


Set the Falling Night Ablaze

by viennajones



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Aliens, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Community: paperlegends, Dragons, F/M, Hypothermia, M/M, Merlin Big Bang Challenge, Minor Character Death, Multi, Non-Graphic Violence, Original Character(s), References to Homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-30
Updated: 2013-08-30
Packaged: 2017-12-24 23:21:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 55,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/945891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viennajones/pseuds/viennajones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the <i>Covert Alien and Mythical Enemy Lifeforms Observation Taskforce</i> discovers a mysterious artefact in the wilderness of Alaska, Arthur Pendragon is forced to call in help from another alien intelligence agency. Unfortunately, this also means that Arthur will have to work with the last person he ever wanted to see again: Merlin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Set the Falling Night Ablaze

**Author's Note:**

> This story would not exist without mightypretty. Paperlegends brought her into my life three years ago, which was one of the best things that ever happened to me. She was the one who convinced me to sign up for it this year and she kept cheering me on through every rough patch and bump in the road. I would have given up long ago if she hadn't been there for me to discuss my plot and characters. She believed in me and she believed that this story needed to be told and for that she has my eternal gratitude and love.
> 
> I still can't quite believe how incredibly lucky I got with my artist, the lovely freyafenris. As a huge fan of digital drawings, I was already in love with the first drafts she sent me. The arts they finally turned into are more perfect than I could have ever imagined and working with her was delightful! I'm in awe of her talent and thankful for the inspiration she provided. Please, please leave her lots of comments and love [over here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/947664), she absolutely deserves them!
> 
> The fact that Mordred is even remotely likeable in this fic is down to one of my oldest and dearest friends, kaiserschmarrn, who has been holding my hand through many of the scenes in this fic and provided me with some of the most constructive and helpful criticism I ever received.
> 
> A massive thank you to my dear beta vix_spes for being a wonderful cheerleader and putting up with my spelling and grammar, and to junkshop_disco for helping me out with the summary. (Summaries are the worst!)
> 
> It's a privilege to work alongside writers you admire, and I have had the great pleasure of doing so! All my love goes out to nympha_alba, i_claudia and dayari, who've word warred with me many times and did wonders to my word count, on top of cheering me on and inspiring me endlessly. 
> 
> I have little insight into the amount of work that it takes to put together a big bang that's as big and successful as paperlegends is. I've been participating for three years now and it has been one of the best fandom experiences I have ever had. All the joy it has brought me is thanks to the_muppet, who is amazing at running this big bang. Over the years, she's been understanding and helpful more times than I count, making sure that this challenge is the best it can be for everyone involved. Thank you so, so much for everything that you've done!
> 
> Please see the end notes for translations.

 

****

**May - CAMELOT Headquarters, Washington D.C.**

“And what have you brought home for me this time, boys?” Morgana’s voice chirps over the elevator’s loudspeakers before the doors are even fully closed. Arthur resists rolling his eyes only because he is fully aware that his menace of a sister has hacked into the camera system as well and he will hear about it later if he does. There is no use in ruining Morgana’s good mood, evoked by the prospect of a new weird creature she can prod over for a couple of weeks at least.

“Kindly remind Elyan that he won’t get a single day off until this stops happening, darling sister,” is his only reply before he enters his override code on the shining touchscreen to his left, thus effectively shutting down both audio and video surveillance, before he turns around to Gwaine and Percival.

“You’ve heard her; she can’t wait to get her claws on those things. Get them down to the lab and don’t you dare mention a thing about the trouble we had on the way back.”

Percival does his best to hide his grin, while Gwaine just throws his head back in laughter and slaps Arthur on the back with too much force that would have sent him crashing into the elevator doors if they hadn’t opened in exactly that moment. He manages to keep his balance, no thanks to the recently polished white marble floor in front of the reception desk, which holds the engraved (and, in Arthur’s opinion, terribly oversized) CAMELOT Seal.

 

“Welcome back, boss! Everything went according to plan, I assume?” Elena asks with a smile before she presses a key and continues her phone conversation with someone who hasn’t even noticed Elena’s momentary distraction. Arthur nods, grateful that the blonde woman at least won’t run off to Morgana or Gwen this very instant to spread more gossip about him. That certainly doesn’t mean he is safe because sooner or later she’d probably blab about it unintentionally, but still. It’s a mystery how she manages her job at CAMELOT’s communication centre so well while at the same time being the clumsiest person he knows. “Update me on everything that happened while we were out, please,” Arthur says and turns away once he’s seen Elena’s nod. He probably already has all the relevant information waiting for him in his inbox.

He steps through the glass arc to the left, which leads up a spiral ascent to his office and finally allows himself to grimace at the burning pain that is crawling down his leg. He’ll have to ask Lancelot for something to put on the rash that is apparently spreading, which means there’s another person he’ll have to share the story with. It’s not that he doesn’t trust any of his team, in fact he is friends with all of them, but they tease him enough as it is and if there’s one thing he is not in the mood for right now, it’s teasing - especially Morgana’s.

Arthur usually avoids going out on missions that involve allegedly harmless and most likely mutated animals. It’s bad enough that his sister practically has a zoo of them down in her laboratory and that she dotes on every single one of them. She even tried to take some of them home and was pissed at him for the better part of that month because she of all people refused to see reason where such things as safety hazards were concerned. Arthur is not an animal person and his most recent encounter with a couple of dogs who thought it necessary to mark him as their territory isn’t doing anything to change that. By the time he’d gotten Gwaine to pull over without crashing the car, his pants were soaked and the itching had started. A change of clothes hadn’t done him much good and neither had the shower he’d taken in a cheap motel bathroom.

Unfortunately, it had been the only possibility he’d had to escape when Elena announced that his father was on his way to the CAMELOT Headquarters this morning. On a regular day, Arthur certainly doesn’t have the time to go out on small missions like this but his father’s imminent visit had required desperate measures.

In hindsight, facing Uther doesn’t seem like much of a hardship anymore, especially since that particular conversation is postponed at best. Quite fittingly, when Arthur reaches his office and checks his emails, the first message’s subject, that is marked with the highest priority Elena has come up with reads: _MR PENDRAGON’S ASSISTANT HAS CALLED THREE TIMES. REQUESTS THAT YOU CALL YOUR DAD IMMEDIATELY (!!!!!)_

A new email from Gwen pops up then, which has Elena in the cc and simply says: _Do it, Arthur. Elena says he’ll have her head otherwise and she won’t believe me that he was joking, which he probably wasn’t._ Arthur just loves it when they start communicating via subject lines. He ignores both messages and reads through the updates he asked for.

He is very glad to see that Lancelot is supposed to be in the building and puts his earpiece in to call the medical department. Lance picks up after a second.

“Hey Arthur. Morgana is delighted with those two dogs you brought back, says they’ve been exposed to some sort of radiation or other; apparently it’s all quite remarkable. She’s even named them,” he says and even though he has to shout because otherwise the dogs’ barking would have drowned his voice, Arthur can’t tell whether he shares Morgana’s joy or not. It’s quite annoying sometimes but Lance doesn’t have so much as an evil fibre in his being as long as you don’t give him a good reason to hurt you because he will. Arthur has once seen a guy trying to grope Gwen in a club getting acquainted with Lancelot’s fist and it wasn’t pretty.

Arthur sighs. “That’s just wonderful, mate. Perfect. Tell her she can’t take them out for a walk in the park and please keep your face straight when you hear what I’m about to tell you, just remember what I taught you about making a poker face.”

“Why, what’s up-” Lance starts but Arthur interrupts him before he can draw Morgana’s attention by looking like another confused, little puppy.

“They peed on me, so I need you to figure out what’s wrong with them and get me a salve or something against this goddamn rash that’s probably eating my flesh right now.”

All he can hear over the line is a muted huff as Lancelot probably tries his best not to laugh.

“Sorry, what?” Arthur asks because even Lance does, on occasion, enjoy taking the piss out of him.

“They bloody well peed on me, okay? Don’t tell Morgana, find something to get rid of the allergic reaction and bring it to my office ASAP!” Arthur says through gritted teeth and hangs up.

His leg is still burning and sitting seems to be making it worse, so Arthur gets up and walks to the large windowfront directly opposite his desk. He stops there and watches as the sun starts going down behind the Capitol. He likes Washington D.C. well enough but if he is being honest, it’s a bit dull compared to other places. He finds himself missing London more often these days, even if there isn’t anything left for him there - his family and friends are all here, he’s got a job that he actually cares about and there is simply no good reason for wanting to go back other than that he misses West End productions, the tube, hell, he even misses the damned weather.

Right now, he would be happy just to get back to his apartment, where he can walk around in a pair of boxers and not have every move worsen the rash through the friction of cloth on skin but he’s still waiting for Mithian to check in. She was out on her own and normally that’s not a reason for which he’d stay but Mithian was only promoted to special agent status a few weeks ago and he simply wants to make sure that she does well. The young woman is a promising agent and Arthur likes her well enough to actually want her on his team, even if he does his best not to let that show too much. Mithian still seems to be nurturing that crush on him she’s had since day one if Elena is to be believed and there is no use in encouraging her.

It isn’t so much that anyone at CAMELOT has a problem with couples working together, considering that Gwen and Lance will be getting married in June and that Gwaine tries to get into both Elena’s and Percival’s pants on a regular basis. As far as he knows, Morgana and Leon are currently trying to be ‘just friends’ and while Arthur tries to involve himself as little as possible in that particular powder keg, he still knows that Leon has taken the afternoon off to find a birthday present for Morgana. He also knows that it will be perfect and still not make his sister get over her commitment issues but really, it isn’t his place to point fingers in that regard. Still, he feels sorry for Leon sometimes, who deserves better and won’t hear of it, ever.

The silent whoosh of his office doors sliding open tears him out of his thoughts a few minutes later. It’s not Lance, whom he expected but Gwen, carrying a small sample jar that she hands over to Arthur once she’s joined him at the window-front.

“Lance said it might help but he wouldn’t tell me what it’s supposed to help with,” Gwen says and nudges him with her elbow. “It’s not lube, though, is it?”

Arthur groans at her completely shameless attempt to figure out if he currently has any love life to speak of. “Seriously, Gwen? As if I wouldn’t tell you if I was shagging someone. So no, it’s not lube and I am very glad that Lance is taking his doctor-patient confidentiality seriously.” He eyes the mixture contained in the little jar she’s given him. It has a weird, dirty orange colour and probably smells like dead rat, if his previous encounters with Lance’s tinctures and salves are any indication. “Also, he said that it  _might_ help?”

“Yes, which is likely the reason why he sent me up here instead of showing up himself?” Gwen suggests. Arthur waits for her to do a little more digging into his personal life but she seems to have something else on her mind because she simply drops the subject.

“I’m assuming you’re not here as Lancelot’s errand runner, though?” Arthur prompts. Gwen is responsible for the technology department and the first person he recruited when he became the head of CAMELOT, even before he was able to lure Morgana and Leon in.

“Obviously not,” she says, rolling her eyes at him, “it’s just. Well, there’ve been some weird readings over in Alaska and we’ve never had anything up there, I’ve checked the archives, even the ones that aren’t digitalized yet. I have no idea what it is, either. Might be that the data’s wrong or someone’s messing with it but I thought I should let you know...”

Gwen’s wording in itself is enough to cause Arthur worry. He’s hardly ever heard anything as vague as ‘weird readings’ come out of her mouth. If she doesn’t know how to make sense of something, it’s either a mistake produced by one of their less competent offices or something really bad is coming their way at the speed of light.

“The office in Alaska is run by the Anhora brothers, isn’t it? They’re both ancient. Send me the data and I’ll call and see what’s going on.”

“Okay then- well, actually I can just pull that up on your screen, really,” Gwen replies, already walking over to the desk. “Have you called your father yet?” She asks a second later, as her and Elena’s e-mails are probably still highlighted in crimson red.

“No and as I don’t see how having Elena beheaded would be a disadvantage, I won’t do it anytime soon, either.” Which is a blatant lie because losing Elena would probably be worse than losing Morgause was and he knows that his time for avoiding Uther is running out.

Gwen looks at him like a mother about to scold her insolent child but doesn’t say anything. There aren’t many things that he and Gwen ever fight about, with the exception of Arthur’s relationship to his father and the amount of milk that was supposed to go into a cup of tea. He kept explaining it to her for years before he finally gave up on trying to make her see that yes, Uther hasn’t been a good father to him ever since he can remember, Uther doesn’t accept his sexuality, Uther probably wishes that Morgana had been an only child, but he is still his father, even if Arthur never calls him that.

“Just pull up the data, please,” is all he says before he turns away from her. Granted, that will make her angry and there’s a good chance she’ll let him know that for a couple of days but it’s far preferable to another shouting match ending in tears for Gwen and just a little more self-loathing for him.

A few moments later, Gwen says, “I’m heading home. Do me a favour and don’t keep Lance here all night,” before she disappears and leaves Arthur feeling miserable. He hates being at odds with Gwen. It’s frustrating and it hurts them both but she’s just not able to let it go and never has been, either.

Arthur opens the jar he is still holding and takes a cautious sniff. It’s not quite as bad as rat but it’s coming close. “This had better work,” he murmurs to himself as he screws the lid on again and walks back to his desk, where the data Gwen has pulled up stares back at him from the computer screen almost accusingly.

 

* * *

Two hours later, he has examined the spreadsheets and, unsurprisingly, can’t make any more sense of them than Gwen was able to. The sensors are detecting a ball of very intense and focused heat but are unable to determine its source, simply because it isn’t even comparable to any possible energy source known to exist on this or any other planet. Arthur tried calling the CAMELOT office in Anchorage but nobody bothered to pick up the phone. He has no idea why they even still have an office there and it’s quite possible that the Anhora’s both just died without anybody noticing it until now. It’s assumedly futile but he sent an email to the office’s address account, which isn’t anchorage@camelot.com like it should be, but unicornsarereal@anhoraoffices.com, something that is inexplicable and makes Arthur wonder which sort of people were once responsible for this organisation and if they were fired as soon as Uther took over.

He opens his comm link to Elena, whose working hours ended a good while ago but who has probably never been home before 9 pm since she started working at CAMELOT.

“Els, could you please find someone who can get to the Anchorage office within the next couple of hours and see if Frank and Jack Anhora are anywhere to be found?”

“Sure thing, boss. In case you were wondering, the GPS on Mithian’s phone seems to be heading back here, she’s only a couple of blocks away now,” Elena answers and that right there is why she is invaluable and precious.

“You know I’d make sure that nobody chops off your clever and pretty little head, right?” If Arthur is being honest, he has forgotten about Mithian over the whole Alaska thing. “Tell Mithian she can head home right away unless there’s anything urgent she needs to report. And once you’ve done that, you are under direct orders to leave your station and do something fun, okay? You really don’t have to be working late every single night.”

“And then you lot wouldn’t get a single thing done anymore, so there. Now let me get on this Anchorage thing and then I’ll go home and you can stay and wait for the rookie yourself. Deal?”

“Deal. I’ll see you tomorrow. Night, Elena.”

Arthur waits for twenty minutes that he spends searching for other ways of reaching the Anhoras (no fax line, personal address, emergency contacts or relatives listed in the CAMELOT database, which is unacceptable) before he grabs the salve Lance sent and heads down to the bathroom with it. The distraction made him forget about the pain in his leg but now that there isn’t anything else he could be doing to explain the mysterious data from Alaska, the itching makes him want to crawl out of his skin.

Despite its unpleasant smell, the salve is cool and soothing to his skin instantly. Most of his thighs and lower leg are an angry red colour by now and he makes a mental note to remind Morgana that she can’t just let her new mutant pets pee wherever they think it best because God knows what else that stuff can burn through. He applies most of the small jar’s contents to his skin and waits for a couple of minutes to let it get absorbed. When he washes his hands, he realises that they now are a lovely shade of orange and that he’ll probably have to use bleach to get rid of it.

After scrubbing away at his fingers for a few more minutes Arthur gives up, dries his hands and steps back out into the deserted reception area. Elena powered most of her workstation down, except for the things that she apparently thinks him capable of using. There is still no sign of Mithian, which is odd considering that she was only a couple of blocks away over half an hour ago. Arthur sits down at the computer and pulls up her mobile’s GPS signal from the CAMELOT software. The address she is at is marked as ‘Joey’s Pizza’, which explains the delay. Joey’s is their favourite take-away just around the corner; everyone who works here has them on speed dial.

It seems like Mithian was bringing back food from the job, which is very commendable and also reminds Arthur that he skipped lunch because of the dog disaster, while at the same time he doubts that Gwen would be more willing to forgive him for today if he shares a late-night pizza with Mithian. Gwen would find out even if he wipes the security tapes. Gwen always found out. As much as he likes his job, some things about it would definitely be easier if he hated half the people he works with.

He makes a decision and has the system call Mithian’s phone. She picks up after the first ring and immediately starts talking: “Hi Arthur! Sorry, I know I’m late but I thought I’d grab pizza for everyone. You always get the four cheese, right? And pepperoni for Morgana and Leo-”

Arthur cuts her off. “Mithian, listen. Everyone’s gone home already and I’m on my way out as well, seems to be a quiet night. I was calling to let you know that I won’t need your report until tomorrow and that you can drive straight home. Just use the office car. Nobody will miss it overnight, yeah?” He says, feeling like a complete arse because Mithian’s disappointment is definitely seeping through during the short silence that falls before she replies.

“Oh. Yeah, right, sorry! I totally forgot to check the time; it’s really late, isn’t it? Well, I guess I’ll just get some dinner for myself then and have that report ready for you by morning.”

“Don’t worry about that, you should get some sleep. You’ve been out all day. Things went fine, though?” Arthur hopes that she won’t stay up to write a report that he doesn’t actually need in writing right away. They haven’t hired any new personnel during the past two years and he forgot how awkward it could be in the beginning. The last person that joined the special agents before Mithian was Gwaine and if there is one redeeming quality about him, it’s that he owns all kinds of awkward situations.

“Yes, didn’t run into any problems and collected all the samples Morgana asked for. I’ll drop them off at her workstation first thing in the morning. And it’s my turn to order now, so I’ll see you tomorrow? ‘Night, Arthur.” Her voice holds a little disappointment, perhaps some embarrassment, and it definitely conveys that she just wants this conversation over. She’s hung up before Arthur can come up with anything other than as hasty good night and that is that. Perhaps the best thing he can do is to just tell her that he is gay. It isn’t even a secret anyway, he just doesn’t feel like every single person he meets needs to know that the last time he considered even doing so much as making out with a woman was when he was seventeen. Mithian is most likely going to keep her promotion and stay with them, so she’ll find out eventually and she also is someone whom Arthur thinks he could trust one day. That and she will probably move on quickly once she knows that she’s wasting her time with him.

“Mr Pendragon, might I suggest that you leave the office now?” Arthur is alarmed for a split-second before he remembers that the weirdly melodic voice that has suddenly addressed him belongs to Clockwise. It’s Elena’s favourite artefact because the alien tech inside the shiny black pyramid-shaped thing is programmed to point out what one should be doing at the current time. Arthur hates it with a loathing, more so since it identified him and they can’t figure out how to reverse that.

“Right,” he says after a moment and is about to shut the station system down when suddenly, the elevator alert blinks. Arthur frowns at the screen, which doesn’t show him the access code holder but instead comes up with: _Unknown Access Code - Possible Unauthorized Entry_.

“What the hell?” The elevator surveillance is once again cut off and by the time he has entered his override code to restart it, he already hears the discreet sound of the doors opening, which means that their possibly unauthorized guest is about to step into view any second now. It’s only then that Arthur realises his gun is missing, probably still in the SUV parked in the underground garage and that he won’t be able to get a gun out of Elena’s safety drawer in time.

All he can do is to shut down the workstation through an emergency exit and fade into the shadows before the elevator doors slide open and a man in a suit steps out and looks around the seemingly empty reception area before he walks towards the spiral ascent without hesitation. Arthur relaxes, as much as he can when his father is present and takes a few steps forward before Uther can pass by. If that surprises the man, he doesn’t show it in the least; he merely stops and takes off the hat he was wearing.

“Uther. What brings you here this late?” Arthur asks because it’s unlikely that his father will start the conversation off by asking him how he’s doing these days. Arthur can count the times he’s spoken to his father over anything even remotely concerning his personal life during the last five years on one hand. Ever since Arthur became the head of CAMELOT, they simply don’t have such conversations anymore. He briefly considers asking Uther how he got in, seeing as he is not supposed to have an access code anymore but decides that Elyan should be able to give him an answer in the morning.

“I came in this morning but as I understand it you were chasing after a couple of dogs at the time.” Uther’s voice is lacking emotion, as it usually does when he isn’t shaking with rage.

“I’m afraid that was the case. What was it that you wanted to discuss?” Every single time they talk, it’s like pulling teeth because neither wants to give the other so much as an inch. Sometimes Arthur wishes that he’d followed Morgana’s example. His sister hasn’t spoken to Uther in years and it never seems like she regrets that decision in any way.

Uther doesn’t answer right away, apparently considering the answer he is about to give, before he says, “Never mind. It was hardly important. I do, however, have information that needs to be brought to your attention. I am assuming that you have been alerted to the situation in Alaska?”

Arthur isn’t quite sure what the appropriate response to that would be but what he thinks is: _Jesus Christ, do we have a mole?_ It certainly would explain a few things. Uther apparently didn’t know about it this morning and probably hadn’t learned about it before CAMELOT. He either still has some sort of access to their system and data, or one of his undoubtedly countless contacts still working within one of the CAMELOT offices is giving him information that he shouldn’t have. Of course there is also the possibility of a third party involved, or that Uther simply picked up some chatter about Alaska and is fishing for details. If it’s that, Arthur won’t do him the favour of revealing anything.

“That’s classified intel.”

Uther just raises an eyebrow. “Very well. The heat signature that you’ll be investigating belongs to an alien artefact that has been hidden away for several decades. It activated at precisely twenty-six minutes past noon today, which is why nobody has detected it before. Nobody knows what it is, where it comes from or what it’s made of. This taskforce should be on its way to Anchorage as soon as possible to find out exactly that.”

“It’s no longer for you to decide what this taskforce should or should not be doing.” Arthur does his best to keep his voice calm. This behaviour is so very typical for his father. After everything that happened, only he could have the audacity to waltz in unannounced, let Arthur know that he wasn’t doing his job properly and presume to lecture him on what his future actions should be.

 “Precisely. However, this artefact is most likely a danger and not a reading mistake in the data and I came here to inform you of that. I trust that you’ll make the right call. I’ll leave you to it.” He is halfway back to the elevator, Arthur watching him walk away, when he halts and turns back around to look at his son for a long moment.

“I know you don’t care for my opinion or my advice anymore but I shall give it anyway. As soon as your team has recovered the object, I think it would be wise to call Swordstone. Good night, Arthur.” Uther gives him a firm nod and continues on to the elevator, which opens immediately.

“Good night,” Arthur says. He sees Uther put on his hat again before the doors close and wonders what the hell he is supposed to do with that particular piece of advice because it’s the last thing he ever expected his father to tell him.

Assuming his father’s information is correct, which it most likely is, there hardly remains much room for decision-making. If the artefact is a threat, CAMELOT will have to take care of it.

Arthur pulls out is mobile and dials Leon’s number. His second-in-command picks up and grumbles a sleepy, “What?”

Arthur replies, “Leon, get the others out of bed and to HQ within the next two hours. We’re going to Alaska.”

 

 

**May - Section Swordstone Home Base, Cardiff**

Merlin is in an excellent mood, even though it’s barely 7 a.m. and he is already on his way to work because for once in his life, things are going according to plan. He even got a solid 8 hours of sleep and the box full of self-made muffins he is carrying would have made his mother proud. He regrets not having taken any pictures of himself making them because if he tells her about it now, she won’t believe it without proof. Hunith believes in her son most of the time but ever since he ruined Will’s birthday cake when he was 12, she's been claiming that he will never learn how to bake. (Well, he always makes sure that the package actually contains sugar and not salt these days.)

At this time on a Sunday, using public transport is almost relaxing and for once he doesn’t resent all the people who work a regular job and have Sundays off. Unfortunately for him, the alien and paranormal workings of the world do not care for such concepts as Sundays and he hasn’t had a free day in months but today is Freya's birthday and she deserves muffins and party hats, even if she’ll possibly be covered in alien goo by 3 p.m. Merlin has made it his mission to make sure they all have some fun today and nothing is going to stop him from carrying through with that plan.

Merlin arrives at the old factory building that looks completely inconspicuous from the outside but hides a vast open high tech facility from prying eyes. He carefully balances the box with one hand as he punches in his security code and looks directly at the camera while it's performing an eye scan on him. As soon as his identity is confirmed, the door clicks open and Merlin uses his shoulder to push against the heavy metal and make his way inside.

The place is blissfully silent for a few seconds until Hudson detects his presence and switches everything from standby mode to running. The lights go on, about a dozen computer screens flicker to life and the coffee machine begins to hum quietly.

“Good morning, Sir. Have you had a pleasant trip into work today?” The android asks and hurries to take the muffin box from his hands to place it on the kitchen counter.

“Surprisingly, yes,” Merlin replies and shrugs off his coat, “have we had any problems during the night?” One morning he came into work to discover that their pair of pterodactyls had somehow escaped their cage. It was a nightmare.

“No, Sir, nothing at all happened. I would like to remind you that it is Miss Lake’s birthday today; however I see that you have not forgotten about that, seeing as you brought baked goods with you. Would you like me to test a sample to make sure they were not contaminated by anything on the way here?” If Merlin didn’t know better, he’d say that Hudson has developed some serious control issues where their food is concerned ever since Mordred got food poisoning from his Chinese takeaway a couple of weeks ago.

“I’m quite sure that won’t be necessary, Hudson. Could you do me a favour and decorate Freya’s work station with the things I brought in last week?” Having an android robot at their disposal is certainly one of the perks of working at Swordstone. Merlin can’t believe that it was in storage for a couple of decades, wasting away until he found it shortly after he started to work for Gaius. As soon as he took over the reins, he brought it to life, much to his uncle’s dismay. Hudson soon proved to be very helpful and also completely harmless. He had even refused to get rid of their rat infestation because he was ‘programmed to refrain from harming any living being under all circumstances, Sir.’ They’d had to set up the bloody rat traps themselves.

“Absolutely, Sir. Would you like a cup of coffee first, Sir?” Hudson asks but Merlin shakes his head. He already stopped for coffee-to-go on the way over. “Thanks, Hudson,” he says and makes his way up the short staircase to his office. There, he sits down behind his desk and checks his emails first but nothing urgent has come in since last night, so he swivels around in his chair and opens the safe behind it to take out the gift he got for Freya.

He is fairly certain that she will love it because if she doesn’t then he let that damned Fisheye alien trick him out of a lot of money for nothing. He should’ve known better than to bargain with him but it wasn’t too easy to acquire objects from the future, even if you knew where to look for them. At least Mordred agreed to chip in as soon as he heard how much Merlin had paid. Merlin winces at his gift wrapping skills upon seeing the package again but the contents will simply have to make up for that. It’s an action figure from the 24th century. Merlin isn’t entirely sure why but apparently they will be making a comeback and look incredibly realistic, too. This one will definitely be a nice addition to Freya’s beloved collection of random trinkets from times she will never live to see.

He puts the gift down next to his keyboard where he can easily reach it as soon as Freya shows up and turns to the stack of files he is currently reviewing to see which ones they can put away in long-term storage because they are old and no longer needed. The Swordstone filing system is a disaster, seeing as Gaius always refused to give up on the actual paper folders he’d been working with most of his life. It’s a mess and they simply don’t have the manpower to clean it up swiftly, so they are dragging it along and work on it whenever they’re not busy with more pressing matters.

Just then, a reminder shows up on his screen, telling him that his annual meeting with the Prime Minister is coming up this month and that he’ll have to have a prior report done by next Friday. Merlin groans. He hates the Prime Minister for personal reasons only and hoped that the elections would get rid of him but he hadn’t been so lucky. He re-sets the reminder, not wanting to work on a report that no one is going to read anyway now and returns to his files.

 

* * *

When he looks up again an hour later, it’s because he hears footsteps coming up the stairs and then Mordred appears in the doorframe.

“Hi there, Merlin,” he says and promptly has to stifle a yawn. Mordred is more of a night person and wouldn’t be here before 12 if it wasn’t for Freya’s birthday. “Have you seen what Hudson’s done with the place? It’s really quite impressive.”

“And a good morning to you, night owl,” Merlin says with a wink, then adds, “no, not yet, but I thought I’d better let him take care of the decorations, you know how he gets when we don’t keep him busy.” The robot tends to follow one of them around if there isn’t anything for him to do, probably in hopes of finally getting a new task. He once tried to follow Merlin to the loo, at which point Merlin attempted to fix that decidedly weird piece of programming but failed miserably.

“I do recall one particular incident where he kept updating me on the weather in various parts of the world for an hour, yes. You didn’t let him make those muffins though, did you?” The look of genuine worry on Mordred’s face as he imagines the possible outcome of that scenario makes Merlin chuckle. “Nope, those were made by none other than yours truly. My Mum’s old recipe, too, so they should be good,” he says. Hunith is an excellent cook and Merlin regrets that his parents live in the country and he can’t just pop in for lunch with them every day.

“Good,” Mordred says, obviously relieved, as he apparently trusts in Merlin’s superior baking capabilities. Now Merlin just hopes that the muffins wouldn’t give anyone food poisoning.

“By the way, the Space Scanner spit something out last night. I wasn’t sure if I should have called last night but it was pretty late and since it was only a couple of hours ago I thought I’d wait until now to tell you,” Mordred says, showing some of the old nervousness he used to have back when he first started working for Swordstone.

Merlin frowns slightly but says, “Don’t worry about it, I probably wouldn’t have picked up anyway, I have a deep sleep. What did we get?” The Space Scanner is a really nifty piece of alien tech that found its way into Swordstone’s hands shortly before Gaius’ retirement.

Mordred seems to struggle with what he wants to say for a moment, before he replies, “I’m not sure, actually. It’s hard to get anything definite from the readings, considering the limited number of languages we’re able to translate. About the only translation I got that made any sense were the words ‘exit launch’, but I have no idea what that is supposed to mean. There’s no translation for the place where the message originated, either. I’ll ask Freya to update the translation software. I don’t think we’ve done that in a while, it might help.”

Unfortunately, Mordred is right. While the device has, for some inexplicable reason, a link to a variety of star systems and galaxies, some of them even unknown to mankind, it spits out information in about 300 different languages and they only know how to translate a tiny fraction of them.

“Alright then, we’ll just have to wait and see if updating the software does the trick. There’s nothing else we can do at this point, anyway,” Merlin says. He locks his computer and stands up.

“I should probably make sure that Freya has some candles to blow out, she’ll get here any minute now,” he says and then grabs Freya’s present and hands it over to Mordred. “You give it to her, okay?” Merlin doesn’t wait for an answer, only claps a slightly confused looking Mordred on the shoulder once and then heads back down to the ground level and over to the kitchen area. He quickly finds the box of birthday candles he bought a few days ago and starts sticking them into the muffins.

 “Sir, I would like to advise you that lighting those candles inside the box is a fire hazard.” This time, Hudson makes Merlin jump and he hits his elbow on the counter. “Shit!” He curses and rubs the spot before he turns around to the android. “Hudson, do you remember the conversation we had about sneaking up on people?” Whoever was responsible for the programming on this robot had apparently forgotten about the apologetic mode because Hudson says, “I did try to announce my presence by singing but you forbade me to do that, Sir,” before trotting off. Merlin just sighs and finishes sticking all the candles where they belong.

Just then Mordred calls, “Freya’s going to be here in 2 minutes, I just caught her on the security feed.” Merlin considers the fire hazard warning but decides to ignore it; they have water sprinklers installed after all. He makes sure that Mordred isn’t looking at him and that Hudson is already busy doing something else before he looks at the candles, which suddenly light up all at once, while the amber specks in Merlin’s iris glow golden for a few seconds and then return back to normal. He smiles to himself; this is so much easier than using a lighter.

He hurries to carry the muffins to Freya’s desk when he hears the entrance door click at the same time that Mordred joins him there. Then, there is a bit of a cacophony of noise as Merlin and Mordred both shout “Happy Birthday!” at the same time as Hudson starts singing a birthday song (and Merlin is reminded exactly why he’d forbidden the singing because the android really doesn’t have the proper programming for that either) which causes the pterodactyls to screech at the top of their lungs, while Freya squeals in delight and calls, “Oh my God, you shouldn’t have!” before she sweeps down on them to receive their hugs and good wishes.

It takes a couple of minutes for everything to quiet down again, during which Freya blows out the candles on and Merlin distracts Hudson from singing by asking him to feed the pterodactyls but Freya seems very happy with everything. As was to be expected, she loves her gift and hugs them both so hard Merlin could swear she cracked one of his ribs. Then she exclaims that she’ll spend the rest of the day stuffing her face with these delicious looking muffins because they can’t honestly expect her to work today.

“Okay then,” Merlin says, “I suppose I can allow that considering it’s your birthday but it’d be great if you could nevertheless update our translation software soon. And I thought we could maybe go out for drinks later, if we don’t get hit by any alien disasters?”

Sometimes Merlin wishes that instead of having a moderate amount of magical power which allows him to play around with fire, he was able to read people’s minds. Freya’s cheeks turn a bit rosy and she says, “Um. Do you think we could maybe do that another night? I sort of have this thing tonight, well. A date?” Her blush deepens because as lively and quirky as Freya can be, she is also shy and easily embarrassed.

Yet the problem isn’t so much that he’s made Freya uncomfortable. A quick glance at Mordred gives further confirmation of what Merlin has suspected for a while now. It’s never completely obvious but Merlin spends enough of his time with these two people to see the way Mordred looks at Freya when she gets excited over something, to notice that he never fails to restock her favourite tea when they run out and to realise that all happiness was drained from Mordred’s features upon hearing the word ‘date’. He knows pining when he sees it, knows it because he once did it himself even if he doesn’t care to remember and Mordred has been doing it for months. Merlin has no idea when Mordred started having feelings for their co-worker of over two years but it’s getting more and more obvious that they won’t go away anytime soon.

Merlin grins at Freya. “Well, in that case I’d be more than happy to reschedule! Who is this mystery man that you have never mentioned before?” He asks with genuine interest because he is happy for her. Freya deserves to find someone brilliant and it isn’t her fault that Mordred never even tried to let her know how he feels. Merlin is sorry for him but he is not going to hurt Freya by feigning disinterest. Perhaps, if this date doesn’t go well, he’ll talk to Mordred and get him to man up, even if he isn’t quite sure Mordred is that brilliant person Freya should be with.

“Just an old friend I know from school. He was away for a couple of years, studying in Sweden, but we kept in touch and now that he is back, he’s asked me out for my birthday.” Freya’s smile is bright and Merlin really hopes that this guy is worth it.

“Sounds nice enough,” he says and jokingly adds, “just make sure you’re home by midnight, or this guy will get to know me!” in his best impersonation of an overprotective older brother.

Before Mordred’s abstention from their conversation can become too apparent, he nods with a faint smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “I hope he’s taking you somewhere nice. Oh, and before I forget...” he begins and produces a sparkling plastic tiara that was hidden behind a stack of folders on Freya’s desk, “the birthday girl must wear this today!” He carefully places it on her head.

“Aw, you remembered!” Freya says, beaming at him and taking him by surprise with another hug that he returns gently after a moment’s hesitation, even if he lets go again quickly. Merlin has no idea what significance a toy tiara holds for her but the way she touches it and tries to catch her reflection in one of the computer screens indicates that she always wanted to have one.

“You are both amazing, do you know that? I am so very lucky to have you. But now I think that you should each take one of those delicious looking muffins and get back to work. I’ll get started on the translation software,” she says, grabs one of the muffins and sits down in the old wingback chair with its colourful patchwork upholstery she brought in one day to replace her standard issue desk chair.

“I see how it is! Well, have fun then, birthday princess. Mordred, we are dismissed,” Merlin says laughingly, takes up two of the muffins and throws one to Mordred, who just about manages to catch it without falling over. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be in my office,” he mumbles around a mouthful of (thankfully tasty) chocolate muffin and jogs up the stairs again, while Mordred lingers a moment longer, explaining to Freya why they need the updated translation software.

He gets back to the files but gives up on them twenty minutes later because they’re terribly boring. He waits for another ten to see if the alien population of Cardiff might cause a problem or two for Swordstone to fix but nothing happens. The log-in screen on his computer seems almost accusing now, so he grudgingly accepts that he should get started on that report for the Prime Minister.

 

The report usually begins with a list of the biggest fuck-ups that Swordstone was either responsible for or took care of successfully. For the past year however, Merlin’s mind draws a blank. There is always at least one major event that needs sugarcoating, one occasion where they didn’t make it in time and Merlin can’t remember anything of the sort. There were some small incidents, like a band of Fisheyes robbing that bank, yet the cover-up was so simple that the police came up with it themselves, saying the robbers were wearing rubber masks made to look like fish. In January, an alien parasite had taken possession of a school teacher who’d then killed three people. Merlin hates that they weren’t able to do anything for the poor woman but it wasn’t possible to extract the parasite without killing her, so she was declared insane. Nothing paranormal about that in the eyes of the media and all the Prime Minister cared about was that the people didn’t learn about the growing number of treaties their government was entering into with alien races they didn’t even know existed.

It’s not something that even Merlin is comfortable with. He realises that it’s necessary but the government is simply too afraid of an alien invasion, which is why they even allow a number of aliens to live in certain parts of Wales. Every time a new alien shows up, they grant them permission before Merlin can even assure them that their race isn’t even capable of attacking Earth.

 _The Alien population has increased. There are now 289 known individuals living in Wales, 70 % of them in Cardiff itself. Unless the Government introduces stricter regulations on the admission of Aliens to remain on the country’s territory, that number is very likely to increase further,_ Merlin types. _At the present time, such an increase would strain the resources available to Section Swordstone, which are already used to their full capacity._

Merlin sighs. They’re spread thin, is what they are. They’re practically always working, he hasn’t been on a holiday in years and none of them do have something even resembling a private life. It’s a bloody miracle that Freya even got that date and it’s hardly surprising that Mordred has developed feelings for her, as he probably hasn’t met any new people in forever. Merlin himself is out of touch with most of the friends he has or rather, had. He keeps in touch with his parents and his uncle and even they complain that he doesn’t call enough, hasn’t visited in months. He should hire at least three new people but it’s hard to find someone suitable for this kind of job and then he’d feel terrible recruiting anybody because signing a contract with Swordstone is, in most cases, the equivalent of signing up for your own untimely death. When Merlin first started working for Swordstone, they had 6 other people on the team. The fact that they’ll most likely die on the job becomes apparent to most people sooner or later but nobody ever quits. In a long line of agents, Gaius was the first to retire and collect his pension and some days, Merlin thinks he resents aliens purely because they never managed to kill him off.

 

* * *

Merlin is eight pages into his report when Freya comes running up the stairs to his office.  
“Everything alright?” He asks, quickly saving the document so he won’t have to start all over again in case all hell is breaking loose.

“Ronan is having some trouble down at the Space Tank, he’s just called and asked if we could come in,” she says a little breathless. “Mordred’s already getting the car, but...” She grimaces slightly. “Do you think that you two can handle it? It was just, I was hoping that I could leave an hour or so early to get ready for tonight and this thing might take hours.”

Merlin, again, has completely forgotten about the time. It’s 3 pm already.

“I bloody well hate writing reports. Always takes me ages because I hardly ever do it anymore,” Merlin says while opening up the safe and getting his gun. Unlike Gaius, who’d always loved writing reports, Merlin usually let Freya or Mordred do it; there had to be some perks to being the boss.

“If we don’t get back before you leave, have fun on your date,” he says and straightens the tiara on her head that was left a bit askew by her run to his office. Freya blushes a little but smiles. “Thanks, Merlin. And be careful, you know the Tank is full of shady types.”

Shady types are about all you can expect, Merlin thinks as he parks the car around the corner of a very shady alley in an equally shady part of the city thirty minutes later. The Space Tank is a dodgy little bar at the very end of a nameless street which has nothing but back entrances to dubious businesses and the door is hidden away behind a couple of dumpsters for good measure. It’s a hard place to find if you’re not looking for it or unless you have a detector for alien energy at hand, which is what had led them to the Tank for the first time.

“We could just shut them down, you know,” Mordred mumbles. He’s been awfully quiet on the drive over and Merlin decided not to be pushy. Unrequited love isn’t fun, everyone knows that.

“Oh, I’ve been tempted to do so many times. But they’d just end up going to regular pubs and that would be an even bigger disaster. Like this, we at least know where to find them,” Merlin replies. In a normal month, they’re paying the Tank a visit on a weekly basis. It has been quiet lately and he’s not eager to get back in there either but it’s their job.

“Remember to let me do the talking,” he reminds Mordred as they’re nearing the dark blue door at the end of the street. Merlin knocks against it four times in a rhythm only known to the regulars and if Merlin sometimes enjoys a drink at the Tank on a quiet night, Ronan would never tell. There’s a slightly weird friendship between him and the bar owner, a mostly harmless Selol alien who’s only interested in keeping his business going. He’s the one who opens the door now, instead of the usual bouncer.

“Thank Metaah, I never thought I would say this but it is great to see you, Merlin,” he says in an accent that is still surprisingly strong for someone who’s lived on Earth for over twenty years now.

“Who’s Metaah?” Mordred asks, as Ronan opens the door just wide enough for them to squeeze in.

“It’s one of the Gods that his people worship and you are not supposed to be talking, okay?” Merlin says because it takes nothing at all to offend some of the people in this pub and he’d prefer it if Mordred didn’t have to learn it the hard way.

The pub is small, dimly lit and smells of alcohol and a variety of weird spices that Ronan uses to mix his drinks. It’s packed, as is usual on a Sunday when even the Alien population of Cardiff has nothing to do, with a colourful mixture of very different extraterrestrials, most of them known to Merlin, who’s had to deal with some of them several times. A few should probably be in jail but there is only a limited number of holding cells at the Swordstone base and none of them are suitable for long-term imprisonment. For obvious reasons, simply throwing them into general population at HMP Cardiff isn’t an option.

“Okay then, Ronan. How can we help? Everything seems quiet enough, to be honest.” It’s not what Merlin was expecting, honestly, since the mood at the Tank is generally explosive when there are so many different alien races assembled.

“That is because...well. I think it is best if I show you. Gentlemen, if you would follow me to the back, please?”

Ronan leads them along the bar to the back of the room were a couple of doors lead to the bathroom, Ronan’s apartment and the storage room, which has three different locks that Ronan opens up to let them in. Merlin does not have a good feeling about this at all. He isn’t too keen to find out exactly how many highly illegal things Ronan is keeping hidden in there. He gives Mordred a nudge because he’s stopped to look at some pictures that are up on the wall and they follow Ronan through the door.

He flicks on the lights, which are surprisingly bright and blind Merlin’s vision for a moment, before his eyes adjust and he takes in his surroundings. While the storage has the same narrow ceiling as the bar room does, it’s more of a hall with rows of shelves holding neatly stacked with boxes of bottles and jars, electronics, books and clusters of unfamiliar objects, as far as he can make out. Most of the boxes are sealed shut. So much for not wanting to know about any illegal shenanigans at the Tank. Merlin sometimes suspected that Ronan was using his bar to deal with all kinds of alien goods but this is a bit more than he expected.

“Seriously, Ronan?” He says, gesturing at the contents of the room at large and raises an eyebrow. “What? I can assure you that none of this is dangerous in any way! I am hardly interested in troublesome affairs, which is why I have called you here.”

He motions for them to follow him and they pass by a few shelves until they take a right turn only to find their way blocked by a few small crates, hastily covered up with some old blankets that Ronan draws away now.

“I received this shipment last night. This was meant to be sea salt, okay? It even says so on the outside. But one of the crates wasn’t sealed properly, which is how I realised that it isn’t.”

Ronan carefully opens one of the crates on top and reveals its content: a fine, grey powder that reminds Merlin of dust. He moves closer to examine it properly but it doesn’t look dangerous to him, even if he has no idea what use one could possibly have for this stuff.

“I can see that it’s not salt but I have no idea what I’m looking at here. Care to enlighten us?” Merlin asks and moves aside so that Mordred can inspect the powder as well.

“This is meteoric dynamite. Enough of it to blast all of Cardiff off the map.”

Mordred immediately takes a few steps back from the crates and looks around like he expects someone with a match to appear and blow them up. Merlin can feel a headache coming on and furrows his brow. “Are you absolutely sure?”

Ronan nods. “And you have no idea how this ended up coming through here? I’m assuming that you didn’t order 6 crates of sea salt for yourself.” Ronan looks at him with deep indignation. Yes, very easily offended but Merlin is having none of that now.

“What? You can’t honestly bring me in here, show me some incredibly dangerous explosives and still expect me not to ask questions. You know I can’t do that. Who’s the buyer, then?” He doesn’t believe that Ronan had anything to do with it but they are sure as hell going to track down the person responsible.

“I can give you their name but it is a fake, I am sure. I never saw what they looked like. They paid up front, so I did not care very much!” Ronan says, stubbornly crossing his arms. Even if he does have a real name, Merlin doubts they would be able to get it out of him now.

“Okay,” he says, holding up his hands apologetically, “I suppose we should be grateful that you stepped in and called us. We’ll be taking these off your hands, if you don’t mind.”

Ronan nods. “I do not wish for my pub to go up in flames, so please. You will have to carry them out through the bar, there is no other entrance.”

“What about the buyers? Won’t they be angry?” Mordred asks before Merlin can stop him. Ronan shoots him a dark look. “Let me worry about that, boy,” he says and shuts the opened crate again before he picks it up and hands it to Mordred.

Merlin isn’t exactly thrilled to be carrying the surprisingly heavy explosive powder through a room filled with very sensitive eyes and noses but they get it done quickly enough. He is just getting back inside to exchange a few more words with Ronan and see what is taking Mordred so long, who very unwisely asked to use the loo, when he is is greeted by an uproar of noise as soon as he opens the door. To his horror, he sees Mordred who is trying to duck the blows that an angry looking Oobra alien is throwing at him. He fends off the first two but the third hits him right in the face. There is an unpleasant crunching noise and Mordred looks about ready to pass out but manages to catch himself on the counter.

“Okay, that’s enough!” Merlin shouts and draws his gun, suddenly very glad that he brought it along. “Put your hands up where I can see them and back off! NOW!”

For a few seconds, it seems like the Oobra is about to lunge at Mordred again but he seems to realise that there’s a gun pointed at his head, so he slowly steps away. “He started it,” the alien says and the silence that had fallen is filled with mumbled agreements from almost everyone on the room. “Goddammit,” Merlin mutters under his breath, puts his gun away and walks over to help Mordred stand upright again.

“Gentlemen, I think it is time for you to leave,” Ronan says, ushering them both outside before things can escalate further. Merlin lets Mordred slump against the brick wall and turns back around to the barkeeper, who hands a folded paper over to him. “That’s the name and contact info they gave me.” Merlin nods, pockets the sheet and says, “Sorry about him. No idea what’s gotten into his head just now...”

Ronan simply shrugs. “Hardly the first fight the Tank has seen, you know? I should get back inside before they begin to tear the place down. Thanks for coming by, Merlin.”

“Don’t mention it. Take care, though.”

Merlin waits until Ronan has disappeared again, the blue door firmly shut, before he crouches down next to Mordred and lifts his chin to take a proper look at his face.

“Well, the good news is, your nose doesn’t seem to be broken but you’ll have a nice shiner for a week or two.” He stands up again and offers Mordred his hand, to pull the other man up from where he is sitting.

Mordred is awfully quiet on the drive back to base. Merlin allows him to wallow in his misery for twenty minutes before he decides it’s time for a little heart-to-heart. He turns the radio down because they’ve been playing terrible music anyway and says, “So, what exactly were you thinking, getting into a bar fight with an Oobra? You did realise that he was approximately twice your size?”

Mordred doesn’t answer and only cradles the side of his face that is already showing some nice swelling and colour. Merlin kind of hopes that Freya is already gone when they get back but it’s still a bit early for that. She’ll worry and fuss over Mordred because somewhere along the line, she wanted to become a doctor, which would have been a safer career choice in any event.

“Oh, come on. Are you going to make me call Ronan and ask for the details?” Merlin isn’t going to take silence for an answer when one of his team has done something stupid like that.

“Fine. He said that he likes it better when we send the brunette bird over and that he’d like to...” Mordred trails off but there’s a grim look on his face that indicates just how ugly the alien had phrased his words. “Anyway,” he continues, “we’re not sending Freya over there again.”

Merlin furrows his brow. “She can take care of herself. But did you actually think that starting a fight to defend her honour was a clever idea?” He gets that Mordred is protective of Freya. Hell, Merlin is protective of both of them himself. Drawing a gun on a bunch of aliens was risky even on a good day but it had been his best chance of preventing the alien from beating Mordred into a bloody pulp and he couldn’t just let that happen.

Mordred has fallen silent again. “Look, I get it. She’s going out on that date tonight and it sucks but did you ever consider that she might have said yes if you had asked her out first?”

The look of surprise on Mordred’s face would be priceless if he didn’t look so terribly beaten up.

“You know?”

Merlin just rolls his eyes. “Obviously. Don’t worry, though, I’m fairly certain that Freya is clueless, which is your own damn fault. But going around picking fights with aliens isn’t the answer, alright?”

“Message received. Won’t do it again,” Mordred mumbles and leans his head against the window to stare outside in silence. Merlin turns the volume back up but changes the radio station.

They get back to the facility ten minutes later. Merlin drives the car right into their underground storage hall, which holds the Swordstone vehicles, a big part of their physical archives, a spaceship’s fighter jet and a safe room built to withstand almost anything. He and Mordred unload the meteoric dynamite and store it in there, where it’s as safe as it can be until they figure out what to do with it. They head upstairs then and as predicted, Freya takes one look at Mordred and gets the first aid kit. When she asks what happened, Mordred can’t look her in the eye, so Merlin comes up with some half-truths about a misunderstanding caused by language barriers in which he is thankfully interrupted by Hudson.

“Sir, there is a very nice young lady on hold waiting to speak to you. Shall I put her through to your office telephone?” he asks. Merlin can feel his headache is getting worse but he heads into the direction of his office not without saying, “You do remember the conversation we had about you not taking phone calls, don’t you, Hudson?”

He puts his gun away before he sits down at his desk and takes up the phone.

“This is Merlin Emrys, Leading Officer of Section Swordstone. How can I help you?” Merlin hates official phone calls. Come to think of it, he pretty much hates everything ‘official’ about his job.

“Hello Mr Emrys,” a woman replies. She has an American accent and a pleasant, friendly voice that is completely unfamiliar to Merlin. “My name is Elena Gawant of the Covert Alien and Mythical Lifeforms Observation Taskforce. I assume that you are familiar with our institution?”

“I am indeed,” Merlin says. There is an uneasy feeling spreading through his stomach. Why would CAMELOT call them?

“Oh, great! Because I wasn’t aware Section Swordstone existed until a few minutes ago.” Elena sounds excited, her tone less formal now that she knows she won’t have to explain everything to him. “Is it true that Hudson is a humanoid? I wasn’t sure if he was kidding, that’s some really impressive voice programming and I would love to get one for CAMELOT-” she breaks off as someone apparently in the room with her interrupts. Merlin can’t make out the words being spoken but it’s a male voice.

“Sorry, boss!” Elena says before picking up the conversation with Merlin by steering it back on topic. Merlin realises that his teeth are clenched firmly shut and he really hopes that Elena’s boss is some head of department kind of guy and not the actual head of CAMELOT. “Excuse me, Mr Emrys. The reason why I am calling is this: our team has found an artefact, most likely alien in nature, in Alaska and it seems like we can’t figure out what it is or what to do with it. It could be dangerous, however. My boss, Mr Pendragon, insists that we require your assistance in this matter.”

The uneasiness in his stomach has been replaced by a strong feeling of nausea. “Why? What makes you think that I can help? As far as I know, your team has specialists for everything and your resources are far superior to ours. No offence but shouldn’t you be much better equipped for dealing with this?” Merlin asks because he doesn’t understand this at all and he isn’t quite sure that it’s not some very ill-advised prank someone is pulling on him.

“Believe me, our specialists aren’t too pleased about this, either. I have taken the liberty of sending you a file with photographs and measurements we took of the object. Hudson provided me with your email address, I hope you don’t mind,” Elena says, her voice once more betraying a little excitement at the idea of an actual, functioning humanoid. Merlin idly wonders how much time Hudson spent chatting with her before he even bothered to let Merlin know about the call. At the same time, he’s opening up is email account and downloads the attachment Elena has sent him.

“I’ve received it, give me a second,” he says and clicks on the folder that contains several images and one excel file. He clicks on one of the images first.

Merlin only realises that he was holding his breath when Elena’s voice cuts through the static of the phone connection that has completely engulfed him while he was staring at the picture. “Mr Emrys? Are you still there?”

He quickly sucks some air into his lungs and opens the excel sheet that contains measurements and temperature readings but nothing besides that.

“Yes, I’m here,” he says. His voice sounds a little weird to his ears, a little deeper than it usually is. “Whatever you do, do not move the object, do you understand? I am getting on the next plane to - which is the closest airport to where you are?”

He’s already pulling up the airline website to find the next available flight.

“The next flight to Anchorage leaves from London Heathrow at 12.45 a.m. If you can get there in time, I can book tickets for you and your team right now,” Elena says and Merlin spares a second to admire her efficiency.

“I’ll make it. My team will remain in Cardiff, however. I afraid they’ll be needed here during my absence,” Merlin says because it’s true and because this is something he has to do on his own.

“Very well, Mr Emrys. I’m booking the ticket now and will send you everything you need. One of us will pick you up from the airport as soon as you land. Have a safe flight and I look forward to meeting you,” Elena replies and Merlin can hear her rapidly typing on a computer keyboard in the background.

“Likewise, Ms Gawant. See you soon.” As he dials his parents’ home number, Merlin regrets that he didn’t do the laundry the other night and that his kitchen is still a mess from making two loads of muffins yesterday. So much for things going according to plan.

 

 

**May - CAMELOT Temporary Quarters, McGrath Area, Alaska**

A soft tap on the cabin’s wooden front door snaps Arthur out of the thoughts he’s been mulling over and over again in his head. He still isn’t entirely convinced that calling Swordstone was the only option they had but it had been the only course of action he could come up with when Morgana grudgingly admitted that they were coming up completely blank where the object they had found was concerned. He himself has no idea how or why Swordstone, or more specifically Merlin, is supposed to be able to help them, he is simply trusting his father’s words; he is going in blind. Arthur hates it.

“Come in!” he says. It’s Elena, wearing a thick jacket and boots that seem a little too big for the size of her feet. She has been complaining about the cold since they landed in Anchorage and granted, it’s colder up here than it was in Washington but it’s hardly freezing.

“Hey boss,” she says as she closes the door behind her. “I just wanted to ask if you want me to pick up Mr Emrys from the airport. It’s time to head back to town and fly out to Anchorage if we don’t want to keep him waiting.” Of course the readings had led them to a part of Alaska that had a stunningly beautiful nature instead of accessible roads. They’d had to get a helicopter in Anchorage to fly to the nearest town and had now rented two cabins in the woods from a local, friendly couple. They were still several miles away from the site where they had found the artefact and even with the off-road vehicles that Gwaine had somehow made available, transportation here was time-consuming.

“Not necessary, I’m sending Leon. He knows Merlin.” Arthur gives her a contemplative look and decides that he might as well let the cat all the way out of the bag and adds, “Morgana and me, too. We all went to school together.” Elena looks very surprised at that, not unrightfully so. It must appear a little strange that all three of them failed to ever mention an acquaintance from England who also happened to be the leading officer of one amongst only a handful of agencies dealing with extraterrestrials and the like. Acquaintance might also be the wrong word to describe what Merlin was to all of them back then but that is something Arthur does not wish to dwell on for too long.

“Oh. Um. Okay then. Is that something you’d like me to share with the others or…” she trails off, apparently not quite sure what to make of Arthurs sudden revelation.

“Yes, go ahead and tell them. It’s not a secret, it just was a long time ago and we haven’t been in contact for a while,” Arthur explains and glances at his watch. “When can we expect them to get back?”

“If nothing goes wrong they should be here in four hours, max.” Elena still looks a little confused but Arthur isn’t willing to do anything about that. He’s not even sure how he feels about seeing Merlin again after ten years of radio silence and he’s keeping the lid shut on that particular Pandora’s box. He’ll just have to figure it out when he sees him.

“Great. I will head down to the site with Morgana and relieve Gwaine and Percy from their watch. Tell Leon to take Merlin there immediately when they arrive, we probably shouldn’t be wasting any time on this.”

Once Elena is gone, Arthur packs up everything he’ll need and heads upstairs to find Morgana. The cabins they have rented are surprisingly well-suited for their needs. The ground floor of both consists of a single room. Whereas the slightly larger one has a living room with a few armchairs, a convertible couch and a fireplace, the other one holds a kitchen area and a large dinner table that is currently covered with Morgana’s abandoned work. Upstairs, they have two bedrooms and a bathroom each. It’s a little crammed but for now, a pair of them always stays in the tent they set up further down the river to monitor the artefact, so it works well enough and nobody has had to sleep on the couch yet.

Arthur doesn’t quite understand why Morgana and Leon ended up sharing a room but it can be a challenge to stay on top of their relationship on any given day, so he simply didn’t comment on it. The door is wide open and he finds Morgana sitting on the bed cross-legged with her reading glasses on and a book in hand. Arthur raises an eyebrow at the title.

“Seriously, Morgana? Is there absolutely nothing else you could be doing right now than reading a book on fishing techniques?” It probably was the most interesting thing that she could find on the bookshelves downstairs but Arthur suspects that fishing techniques are beside the point.

“No, I don’t, actually. As you are well aware, this bloody weirdly shaped egg-thing is about as forthcoming with any conclusive data as you are about why you invited Merlin of all people to come here and take a look at it, so no. I don’t have anything better to do.” She shuts the book, though, and takes off her glasses to give him a stern look.

Her words are a very accurate summary of everything that must be bugging her. She usually isn’t the type to mope but then she has hardly ever been confronted with a mystery that she couldn’t, in the end, solve. As for the second part, Arthur is withholding the information for purposes of self-preservation only. He knows all too well how Morgana would react if he told her that they are only in Alaska because of Uther’s advice and that he asked for Swordstone’s assistance in reliance on the same.

“Don’t be so morose. If you’d like, you can spend the next 4 to 5 hours interrogating me while we wait for good old Merlin to arrive,” he replies with lots of fake cheer in his voice.

“Yes, I’ve heard. Now you want me to guard that evil egg and let it mock me on top of everything else, too? You’re a cruel man, Arthur Pendragon.” She does get up from the bed in spite of her words and grabs her things before following her brother downstairs.

They arrive at the site thirty minutes later and Arthur already regrets that he chose Morgana’s company instead of Mithian’s or Gwen’s, who were both busy getting more supplies for them and were possibly taking their time precisely because they didn’t fancy sitting around in front of a tent for a couple of hours. Gwen is another reason why he didn’t tell anyone about Uther’s visit. He simply wasn’t too keen on mentioning his father’s name these days because it brought him nothing but trouble.

Morgana takes one annoyed look at the egg, which they haven’t moved due to Merlin’s warning even though it seemed innocent enough and disappears into the tent to make some tea.

“Well, she’s in a good mood I see,” Gwaine comments. He is spread out on a camping chair in the sun with his shirt off and Arthur would tell him that he’ll only catch a cold like this but he gave up on making Gwaine see sense a long time ago. It’s not like he doesn’t appreciate the view.

Arthur ignores the comment. “Anything new?” he asks and looks at the thing, safely lodged between a few larger rocks on the bank of Kuskokwim River. Its surface is perfectly smooth and white; it’s shaped like a drop of liquid and cold to the touch despite the heat signatures it’s constantly giving off. That is about all they have been able to find out about it, too, and Arthur understands why Morgana, Gwen and Lancelot aren’t happy with this mission. Arthur himself is affronted that his team failed, even if it most likely isn’t their fault.

“Nope, hasn’t made a peep. Just sits there and does absolutely nothing. Almost makes you wish that it did so we’d have something to do in return,” Gwaine says. He gets bored very easily and Arthur suspects that he spent most of his watch asleep instead of doing his job and Percival, who is just stepping out of the tent, probably let him get away with it, too.

“You’d love it if it just blew up in our faces, wouldn’t you?” Percy throws Gwaine’s shirt at his head before giving him an affectionate smile. Then he turns to Arthur and asks, “Any word on when we should expect the expert to arrive?”

Arthur updates both of his men and sends them off after telling Percival to get some rest and Gwaine to check in with Elyan whom they left behind to hold the fort at CAMELOT Headquarters back in D.C.

He sits down in the chair and stares at the egg, or whatever it is. They can’t even be sure that it’s an egg and not just something that looks like one. Somehow, Arthur doesn’t think that it’s dangerous at all but that is only a hunch and nothing for them to go on. Morgana’s first instinct was not to move the object at all until they knew what it was and Merlin had confirmed that she was right in that at least, even if he’d said nothing useful besides that.

Hearing Merlin’s voice again had been like a punch to the gut. Arthur hasn’t really been keeping tabs on him ever since he heard that he had taken over Section Swordstone after Gaius’ retirement but now he wonders if maybe Uther did. He tried to reach his father when it became apparent that they wouldn’t be able to figure this one out but suspects that the man simply wasn’t taking Arthur’s calls for reasons known to him and him alone. Still, Uther had to know something and regardless of where that intel came from, Arthur wants it.

Morgana steps out of the tent and hands him a cup of tea. “Thanks,” he says. Arthur is mostly relying on coffee these days and why Morgana would bring her favourite tea instead of a decent book is a mystery to him but he’s grateful for it now, as he wraps his hands around the warm metal cup.

“So. Merlin, then?” his sister asks after a few seconds of silence, perhaps expecting him to finally confide in her now. Arthur doesn’t reply and takes a sip of tea first. It’s still too hot and scalds the tip of his tongue but he lets the silence stretch until Morgana gives an annoyed huff.

“Okay. If you don’t want to tell me why he is coming, at least tell me how you feel about it?”

At that, Arthur looks up. He has to squint against the sun that is awfully bright today.

“How am I supposed to feel about it? It’s a job. He won’t be around for long.”

“Don’t insult my intelligence like that, Arthur. He was your best friend and he never bothered to reply to even one of the countless texts and emails and bloody letters you kept writing during those first few months. You probably thought I was too busy rebelling against Uther and getting shitfaced with my friends to notice but I did. You were miserable until you decided to let it go. Was that after Leon told you that Merlin and Will were best mates now?”

Her words are harsh and they sting because they remind him of a time when he was young and absolutely pathetic. It was all true, too. They had just been uprooted by Uther, who had decided that the family was moving to the States seemingly overnight. He hadn’t met Gwen and Lance yet and hated his new school and his best friend in the world wanted nothing to do with him anymore. And when Leon had, very carefully and hesitantly, explained that Merlin had made new friends now, Arthur accepted it, even if he never understood why Merlin decided that it was for the best if they just stopped being friends.

“Has it ever occurred to you that all of that happened ages ago and that I couldn’t care less about him now? I didn’t expect to see him again but what does that matter? You and Vivian grew apart, too. How would you feel about seeing her again?” He asks and stands up to look at her properly.

“I’d want to scratch her eyes out. Vivian was a bitch,” she says and Arthur can’t help it, he has to laugh at that. “Yes, she was, wasn’t she?” He says and takes another sip from his cup, more carefully this time. He can see that Morgana is about to get back on topic, so he quickly says, “Don’t worry about me, okay? I’ll be fine. Thanks for the concern, though.” He presses a kiss to her cheek to hide the uncertainty he is well aware of and brushes past her to step into the tent, hoping that she’ll let it rest.

Several hours later, it’s slowly getting dark and cold outside. Arthur is just getting back from the car with their jackets when Morgana says, “Leon just called. They’re on their way over here, ETA ten minutes.” Arthur nods and hands her the ridiculously fashionable coat Morgana brought for a trip into the wild.

“Good. Let’s hope that we can take the thing back to the cabins, I don’t think Lance and Elena fancy taking the night shift,” he says and shrugs into his own jacket.

“I doubt it, too. I’ll make some coffee, poor Merlin is probably jetlagged as hell,” she says. “Merlin can sleep anywhere,” Arthur replies before he can stop himself but Morgana only gives him a long look and then turns away. It’s weird how he hasn’t really thought about Merlin in years and still remembers what he was like this way, as if he still knows him inside out, when in fact he doesn’t know if Merlin can still curl up in the most uncomfortable places and be out cold within minutes.

He pulls out his phone because he has once again forgotten that it doesn’t get reception in the middle of nowhere. He checks the time anyway but realises that he hasn’t even adjusted the time zone yet. By the time he’s done that, the headlights of a car are approaching in the distance, so he pockets the phone again, crosses his arms and just waits for it to arrive.

Leon parks the car right next to the one Arthur and Morgana came in and shuts off the engine. A few moments later, the two men step out and start heading towards where the tent is set up. From the distance, Merlin doesn’t look like Arthur remembers him at all. He used to be a skinny boy with gangling limbs and a mop of hair that always fell into his eyes. His shoulders are broader now, he wears his hair shorter and as they approach Arthur can see a two day old beard that looks unfamiliar in Merlin’s face, which is no longer all sharp angles and cheekbones but somehow softer.

Arthur wishes that he’d given a moment’s thought to how he was going to say hello to him but he is saved by Morgana who is suddenly next to him and exclaims, “Merlin! Oh my god, how you’ve grown!” before she wraps him up in an embrace that Merlin returns after a second of surprise.

“It’s good to see you, Morgana,” he says and, after he’s extricated himself from her, adds, “You too, Arthur.” Arthur nods. He can’t quite make himself smile but he does take a step forward and they shake hands. If his grip is a little too hard, then so is Merlin’s.

“I trust you’ve been well,” Arthur says and buries his hands in his jacket’s pockets because he suddenly doesn’t know what to do with them.

Merlin nods. “I can’t complain. I was a bit surprised to get your call, though. I really wasn’t expecting that on an ordinary Wednesday.”

“I assumed as much. An old contact of mine recommended getting Swordstone involved in this as soon as possible, so thank you for coming here this quickly.”

Merlin cocks his head to the side and looks at Arthur quizzically, as if he’d like to say _‘Really? That’s all you’re going to give me?’_ but doesn’t.

“Would anybody like some coffee? I’m afraid it’s not exactly good but it has to be better than the stuff they serve on a plane,” Morgana chimes in and Arthur is glad that he brought her with him today after all because this could have been awkward from the get go if it hadn’t been for her.

“I got a fair amount of sleep on the flight but I won’t say no to some caffeine,” Merlin says with a smile. He does look tired, which is hardly surprising when Arthur does the math and realises it’s the middle of the night in Wales right now.

“Splendid! Come on, I’ll update you on the artefact in the meantime.” Merlin and Morgana disappear into the tent just as Leon steps up to Arthur.

“It’s a bit weird seeing him again,” he says and Arthur appreciates that Leon isn’t trying to interrogate him on this whole thing, too.

“I know what you mean,” Arthur replies. He flexes his fingers which hurt a little from where Merlin’s own were wrapped around them. “Has he said anything on what he thinks it might be?”

Leon shakes his head and Arthur expected as much. “Okay then, seems like we’ll just have to wait a little longer. You can get back, though. No point in missing dinner if you don’t have to,” he says.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Leon says, grinning. “Gwen’s made lasagne. I’ll try to save some for you but you know how Gwaine can be.”

“I appreciate the effort, mate,” Arthur says. “By the way, did you bring that present you bought for Morgana with you?”

“Yeah, I did. It was still in my pocket anyways. Why?” Leon asks.

Arthur shrugs. “I just have this feeling that we might be stuck here for a while, that’s all. Enjoy the lasagne and tell Gwaine I’ll cut off his hair in his sleep if he doesn’t leave any for us.”

“That’s a serious threat, my friend, but I’ll pass it on. Good luck out here, I’ll see you later.”

Arthur waits until the headlights of Leon’s car are only tiny pinpoints in the distance before he joins the others in the tent. He can hear Merlin laughing from outside and realises that his laugh hasn’t changed at all but he tears himself away from the memories and steps inside. Morgana and Merlin are both holding cups of coffee and seem to be getting on like a house on fire but their conversation dies once they see Arthur’s with them, too.

“You were making fun of me, weren’t you?” Arthur asks after a moment. He’d forgotten that Morgana and Merlin had been good friends once, too, and that they’d loved forming alliances against him simply because it pissed him off.

“Oh, we’d never dare, dear brother,” Morgana teases but sobers up quickly enough because she too must have noticed that this is familiar, in an uncomfortable way.

“I was just going to propose that we let Merlin examine the artefact now, what do you think?” she continues and sets her cup down on the table.

“I think that that’s the reason we dragged him out here in the first place and that Gwen’s lasagne is waiting for us when we get back, so I’d say we should get back as quickly as possible,” Arthur says.

“Well, lasagne is a very convincing argument. Lead the way?” Merlin says and both he and Morgana follow Arthur outside who proceeds to show Merlin where they have found the egg. Merlin grows very silent upon seeing it and quietly asks Morgana a couple of questions while Arthur takes a step back, assuming that he won’t be much help now.

He watches as Merlin advances, careful not to slip on the wet rocks and crouches down over the object. Arthur isn’t sure what he expected Merlin to do with it but he simply seems to be examining it for a very long time. It’s hard to see in the dark but he sees Merlin run his hands over every part of the egg’s surface he can reach and he is talking to himself. Arthur can’t make out any words over the rush of the river. Next to him, Morgana is perfectly still but she’s furrowing her brow like she has no idea what the hell Merlin is doing, either.

After what seems like a very long time, Merlin stands up again and asks, “Do you have anything cushioned that we can put it in for safe transport?”

Morgana nods and rushes back to the tent to reappear with a case that Arthur knows to be embedded with some sort of high-tech foam rubber, which she hands over to Merlin, who frees the egg almost in slow motion and secures it inside the case before he returns from the water’s edge. His shoes and trousers are wet but Arthur can read a very carefully contained joy in his eyes. The specks of gold in seem brighter than Arthur remembers ever seeing them but then again he had almost forgotten about them completely.

It’s Morgana who cracks first and asks, “Well? What the hell is it?” because not knowing must be driving her insane. Arthur is equally curious but he also is confident that the egg doesn’t hold any danger to them after just one look at Merlin’s face. It’s strangely comforting to know that that’s still something he can do, read Merlin like a book.

“It’s a dragon egg.”

Arthur is still wrapped up in his own thoughts when Merlin gives his answer, which is why it doesn’t register right away. When his brain catches on, there’s a small whirlwind of new questions and shock, because _dragons?_

Dragons are not supposed to be real. They have dealt with creatures of myth, a fair share of them, but there has never, to their or anybody else’s knowledge, been proof that dragons ever existed. Then again, in their line of work it’s probably naïve to believe in anything for certain.

“Are you absolutely sure, Merlin?” Morgana asks, already filled with fascination and curiosity and when Merlin gives his affirmative, she actually squeals in delight.

“Do you think it’s still alive? Will it hatch?” Morgana and her bloody pets, really.

“And more importantly, is it dangerous?” Arthur cuts in because he’s not so sure that a dragon can be counted as harmless and that it wouldn’t be best to simply destroy the egg while they still have the chance.

“I should probably clarify that I am not an expert on this, okay? My knowledge is actually very limited, so bear with me, please.” Merlin pauses for a second but when he is satisfied that they won’t interrupt, he continues.

“First of all, if we are being thorough, it’s not a dragon egg but the egg of an alien creature that fits the description of what we would call a dragon. If I remember correctly, it’s called _Lan´ra_ in the tongue of its people but it has been a long while since I talked to any of them, so let’s just call it a dragon, okay?”

At the confused expressions on both Arthur’s and Morgana’s faces, Merlin sighs. Arthur tries to be patient but this is taking too long. It cost Arthur a lot of nerves to teach his team how to report back as quickly and efficiently as possible and Merlin always had a tendency to ramble.

“Look, this is classified information. I’m trusting that the two of you won’t turn on the motherland. Britain is harbouring a very wide variety of extraterrestrials these days and Swordstone’s primary purpose is to monitor them. All I know at this point is that you have found a dragon egg and that right now, it’s absolutely harmless. I don’t know if it’s still alive, though I assume that the heat signatures indicate a living being inside this egg but either way, it won’t just hatch.”

“This might come as a shock but that classified information is not a very well-kept secret. And if that is all you know about dragons, couldn’t you have told us over the phone?” Arthur asks and it comes out more accusingly than he wants it to but he can read on Merlin’s face that the damage is already done.

“I had no way of being certain by looking at those pictures and I didn’t exactly want to find out that I was wrong from the news in case it was some sort of weapon. I am terribly sorry if that was inconvenient,” Merlin says, keeping his voice calm. Only his eyes betray the anger that lies behind his words. He probably didn’t expect for him and Arthur to kiss and make up but he wasn’t prepared for hostility, clearly. Arthur himself never meant to be anything but civil but now he’s screwed up. He is still trying to decide if he should apologise when Merlin speaks up again.

“I didn’t come here to argue. I wanted to make sure this object was what I thought it was and I’ve done that. In my opinion, it’s best if I take it back to England with me, where I can track down some of the aliens who know what to do with a dragon egg, but that is your call, obviously. I’d just appreciate it if I could get some sleep before I have the pleasure of spending another day on various planes.”

He does look very tired now, in the dim light of the moon, and Arthur feels a pang of guilt for having dragged him out here without any rest, even if it was the right call to make. He has more questions that Merlin doesn’t seem to have any answers to and anyway he would rather discuss them over a piece of Gwen’s fabulous lasagne.

“Let’s get back to others and go over our options there. We’ll definitely have a space for you to crash and there should be a proper meal if we get lucky,” Arthur says because he didn’t ask Merlin to come here to fight, either.

 

* * *

It takes them another hour to pack up all the equipment and load it into their truck before they head back to the cabins. Morgana uses the time to ask Merlin all sorts of questions on the egg and where it came from but as Arthur expected, most of those questions remain unanswered. That fact does nothing to diminish Morgana’s good mood, however. Arthur just drives in silence and considers Merlin’s proposal to transport the egg to England. It would take the entire problem off their hands and it’s entirely possible that only Merlin can find someone to deal with it but it would be a risk, too. He’s not sure if he’s comfortable with the thought of that egg actually hatching a dragon at any point in the future.

Arthur hasn’t made up his mind yet when he parks the car. They leave everything inside for now, except for the case holding the dragon egg which Merlin didn’t let go off even for a second during the car ride.

They hear laughter from inside one of the cabins. When Arthur opens the door, he sees Percy and Leon blocking Gwaine’s way back to the kitchen counter while he loudly complains, “If Arthur can’t be bothered to be home in time for dinner he does not deserve his share! I promise I’ll leave something for Morgana and that Emrys guy!”

The others only realise that Arthur, Merlin and Morgana have arrived when Arthur says, “It’s good to know where your loyalties lie, Gwaine, really.” They all fall into an expectant silence at that. Even Gwaine forgets about his mission to reach the lasagne and turns around to face them.

“Everyone, this is Merlin Emrys, Leading Officer of Section Swordstone,” Arthur says and then proceeds to introduce the team to Merlin.

“This is Gwen Smith, our analyst. She’s the one who noticed the irregularities in our data. Lancelot du Lac, our medic, Elena Gawant, whom you spoke to on the phone and special agents Mithian Hunter, Percival Strong and Gwaine Greene.” They each draw attention to themselves when Arthur says their name.

Before anybody else can say anything, he adds, “Ladies and Gentlemen, we have found ourselves a dragon egg.”

The look on everyone’s faces is priceless, Arthur has to admit, but the situation quickly descends into a clutter of surprised exclamations and confused questions for a minute or two before Arthur puts a stop to it and promises to explain everything once they’ve sat down and had some food. What can he say, sometimes he enjoys making his team wait simply because he can.

A few minutes later, the three of them sit down with their plates of re-heated lasagne that tastes as good as it always does and Arthur starts filling his team in with helpful interruptions from Merlin but with the limited knowledge they have at this point, it doesn’t take too long. Afterwards, they drift off into their own conversations and Elena corners Merlin to finally find out about the humanoid Section Swordstone seems to be using at their operations base.

Arthur quietly motions for Morgana, Gwen and Leon to join him in the kitchen where they start on doing the dishes as an excuse for a slightly more private conversation. Arthur has considered Merlin’s offer to take the egg with him when he goes back to Wales, which he hasn’t mentioned to the team yet, but he wants Morgana’s and Gwen’s professional opinions first. They are the experts, after all.

“To be perfectly honest, Arthur, I don’t think there is another option for us to choose,” Gwen says once he’s presented the idea to her and Leon. “Morgana and I failed miserably at our jobs and we have never even heard about the planet or the aliens that might have brought the egg here. It seems like Merlin is the only one who can find a way of making sure the egg does not become a hazard.”

Arthur looks at Morgana for confirmation and she simply nods. The fact that she is willing to let go of the egg convinces him that she really wouldn’t know what to do with it, either.

Leon speaks up suddenly because he understands Arthur’s reserve without him having to voice it directly. “It’s Merlin. I think we can trust him.” There are a lot of things resonating in his words that he doesn’t say out loud but he stands firm under Arthur’s stare until Arthur gives a curt nod.

“Good. Then I’ll let him take the egg but I am sending Morgana to England in a few days to keep an eye on it.” He doesn’t miss the soft smile that crosses Morgana’s lips. He knows that she still has good friends in England and that she would visit their home country much more frequently if her job allowed it. Until now, all thoughts of home came with a bitter taste for him and as much as he sometimes wanted to return there, he never actually did.

They finish the dishes and put everything back in its proper place before Arthur requests everyone’s attention again.

“We’ll be returning home tomorrow,” he begins and receives a chorus of cheers in return, “so we need to get everything packed up and ready now.” Gwaine actually groans and the others don’t seem too excited, either. “It’ll save us time in the morning, so just get it done and then get some sleep.” It takes a couple of minutes for everyone to get moving but Gwaine and Percival head outside to start loading things into their cars while Lance, Gwen and Elena head over to the other cabin to get things in order there. Morgana and Leon go upstairs and Arthur approaches Merlin and Mithian who seem to be getting on very well already.

“Merlin, can I have a word?” He cuts in with an apologetic smile at Mithian, who blushes a little and rushes to say, “Sorry, Arthur. I should be helping the others anyways! Good night, you two.” She smiles at Merlin and leaves them alone. There’s an awkward silence for a few seconds before Merlin speaks up.

“Seems like you have a good team at CAMELOT. They’re all very nice, though I think Gwaine tried to hit on me?” Merlin’s smile is a little unsure at that and Arthur gets it – Gwaine undoubtedly takes some getting used to.

“He does that a lot, it’s kind of his thing,” Arthur says with a shrug. “But they’re all good people. I’m lucky to have them.” Before they can fall into silence again, he continues on.

“I think it would be best if you take the dragon egg with you to England but if you don’t mind I would like to send Morgana along in a few days. I know she wants to know more about it and I need to justify why I am letting it out of our sights to my superiors, somehow. I’m sure you understand?” While Arthur assumes he can trust Merlin in this matter, he is less inclined to rely on an alien species which they know next to nothing about.

Merlin seems very relieved at that and nods. “I completely understand, yes. Morgana is more than welcome at Swordstone. I believe we might even have an apartment for visitors somewhere in Cardiff.”

“We have an understanding, then. That’s good. Now, let me just grab my things from the upstairs bedroom, you should sleep there. I’m sure you won’t mind a proper bed and I suspect we’ll be up for a good while longer and would disturb you down here.” Arthur isn’t especially keen to sleep on the couch tonight, as it doesn’t appear to be too comfortable but Merlin looks like he could really use a good night’s sleep in a proper bed.

Merlin opens his mouth, presumably to argue but Arthur shakes his head. “I insist, okay? Come on, I’ll show you the room.” Without giving Merlin a chance to respond, he turns around and walks upstairs, trusting that Merlin will follow.

While Arthur quickly clears the room of his belongings, Merlin stands next to the door, a small carry-on suitcase at his feet that Leon must have unloaded from the car earlier. He’s also brought the dragon egg case with him. It doesn’t take Arthur long to pack everything up, as he never bothered to unpack properly, not expecting them to stay here this long in the first place.

He has just shouldered his backpack and is about to turn around when Merlin suddenly speaks up.

“You’ve been well, too, haven’t you?” He asks. Arthur freezes and closes his eyes. He’d hoped that they could simply not do this but things with Merlin were never simple. When he doesn’t reply, Merlin continues, “Since you left England, I mean.”

Arthur takes a deep breath and turns around to face Merlin. “Yes, I’ve been well,” he says and what else is he supposed to say, really? It’s not like Merlin wants to know about all the things that have caused him grief since they last met; it’s not like Arthur wants to share those things, either.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for-“

“Merlin,” Arthur interrupts because he can’t bear to hear it, “could we not? I don’t need to have a conversation about this. Just get some sleep and I’ll see you in the morning.” He doesn’t wait around to see if Merlin’s got anything more to say.

 

 

**May - CAMELOT Temporary Quarters, McGrath Area, Alaska**

When Merlin wakes up, he feels terrible. His head hurts, which is hardly surprising with the roughly three hours of sleep he got after tossing and turning for the better part of the night. He quickly muffles the alarm on his cell phone and turns it off.

He made himself shave and take a shower last night before faceplanting into the sheets that distantly smelled of what had to be Arthur and prevented Merlin from falling asleep right away. Then, his thoughts turned to the discovery he’d made and he tried to get a call through to Wales but failed miserably. A glance at the blaringly bright screen tells him that there’s still no reception, which means he can’t call anyone without getting his hands on one of CAMELOT’s satellite phones, and he can’t do that without attracting attention.

Knowing that it wouldn’t be wise to give in to temptation and even begin to start using the snooze button, Merlin drags himself out of bed. The mirror on the opposite wall reflects his image, hair hopelessly dishevelled and dark shadows under his eyes. He gets dressed quickly and makes a short trip to the bathroom to brush his teeth and use the loo. He doesn’t even try to do anything about his hair and doesn’t flush lest he wake someone up.

He knows it’s a dick move, stealing away while they’re all still asleep, especially since he’ll have to ‘borrow’ one of their SUVs to get back to civilization and a city that has a proper airport. If he’s being honest, it has more to do with not wanting to face Arthur again than with wanting to get back home as quickly as possible but he’s good at pretending and it actually is important that he gets back to Wales soon.

He packs up his things and considers leaving a note but decides against it; there’s such a thing as too clichéd. With his suitcase in one hand and the dragon egg’s in the other, he quietly makes his way down the stairs, which thankfully are not of the creaking variety, and through the living room. He stops at the front door to look at Arthur, sprawled out on the extendable couch that can’t be comfortable and he suppresses a sigh. Well, he tried to apologise for how everything turned out but Arthur shut him down completely. There isn’t much else he can do and he tells himself that that’s fine. Sometimes life doesn’t hold second chances.

It’s still fairly dark and cold outside and Merlin shivers slightly as he walks over to where the cars are parked. He looks through the windows to see which one holds the smallest amount of CAMELOT tech that he wouldn’t be taking with him if he had the time to unload and settles for the smallest car that it still mostly empty and was apparently meant for everyone’s luggage. He doesn’t even have to use magic to open the doors because Percy and Gwaine must’ve thought that no one was going to come here and steal the cars. He puts the two cases in at the passenger’s seat and carefully closes the door.

“I’m curious, Merlin – do you know how to hot-wire a car?”

Merlin spins around to see Arthur, in his plain white t-shirt and red sweatpants, barefoot in the grass that’s wet with dew. He looks furious as he steps closer to Merlin and blocks his way around to the driver’s side, even though Merlin doesn’t even attempt to get away. He’s a lot stronger than he was at seventeen but he still wouldn’t make it past Arthur if he tried. Not without using magic.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing? Were you going to steal one of our cars and simply disappear? Because it sure as hell looks like it.”

Arthur crosses his arms and stares at Merlin as if he can’t believe that there was still a way left in which Merlin could let him down.

“Look, Arthur, I just wanted to…,” Merlin begins but he doesn’t know what to say that wouldn’t make Arthur even angrier than he already is.

“Leon said that you could be trusted and I was stupid enough to believe it. Then again, I suppose you were never someone that I could rely on.”

Merlin knows Arthur is purposefully using his words to hurt but that doesn’t stop the sudden rage welling up inside him.

“Right, I’m the one who’s unreliable. You made it quite clear that you don’t want me here. And while we’re discussing ‘simply disappearing’, I think you’re the one who’s perfected that art. After all, it was you who fucked off to America overnight,” Merlin spits out.

Arthur gets dangerously close to him then and even though he’s no longer taller than Merlin, he still manages to make himself bigger, more threatening.

“Don’t you dare use that against me, don’t you dare. I didn’t get a choice. My father practically tricked me so I would get on that bloody plane and you know that, you asshole. You were the one who cut me out of his life for good.”

Merlin can feel the guilt welling up inside him because in this, Arthur is right and he knows it. There would be a few dozen letters to prove that Arthur wasn’t willing to disappear from his life entirely if he hadn’t thrown them away unopened. Merlin resented Arthur for not letting it be, not wanting to let go, when cutting all ties it had been the hardest decision he’d ever had to make.

“You know what? I deserve an answer. Your letter never explained why you thought it was best to end our friendship. It just said you were sorry and a fat lot of good that did me. So why, Merlin? Just give me an answer and I’ll let you drive off,” Arthur says. His jaw is set in that determined way that means he is going to what he wants.

"What does it matter? It was ages ago and nothing I could say would change anything! You don't trust me and I never expected you to. I made my decision back then and I don't regret it. I'm sorry because it has apparently scarred you for life but seriously, Arthur? Sometimes friendships just end. I didn't want ours to wither away, so I decided that I didn't need a best friend living in the States and moved on. It's as simple as that. Why is it such a big deal to you?"

Merlin knows he's improved at being a liar over the years. He can't give Arthur the truth but there are still some half-truths hidden in his words, the key to making any lie believable. He doesn't regret cutting Arthur out of his life because it was the right thing to do but he is sorry that things weren't a little different. A part of him knew that he cared about Arthur too much to watch him make new friends and slowly forget about Merlin through missed phone calls and unanswered e-mails. He moved on but nothing about that was simple.

None of that matters very much now. Merlin can tell by the way Arthur is looking at him that he didn't read between the lines and that he believes Merlin is actually that terrible as a person and a really shitty friend. He takes a step back, then another, slightly shaking his head.

"Wow. What happened to you, Merlin? Or were you always this way and I was just too stupid to see it?" He lets out a laugh that sounds more like a bark and shakes his head again. "It's funny, you see. We would probably still be friends, or more, if my father hadn't put an ocean between us. I guess you don't know but that was only because of you."

Merlin's throat feels dry very suddenly. "What?" He croaks and has to actively resist the urge to get away from Arthur and this place. Arthur can't know, can he? It’s possible, though. Possible that Uther told him when he handed CAMELOT over to his son. Possible that Arthur tricked him into coming here, knowing full well what Merlin is. Possible, that he never intended to let Merlin leave with the dragon egg and that the plan was to expose him all along.

Then, he remembers that this is Arthur. Arthur, who's honest and loyal and a good man, who until now still believed that maybe Merlin had a reason for what he did, who decided to trust him because of the friendship they once shared. Even if he does know, Merlin can't honestly believe that he's trying to cause Merlin pain.

"We only moved here because of you, Merlin. Or rather because my father had realised that I was in love with you and he couldn't accept that," Arthur says. Another laugh escapes his throat, this one sounding bitter. "Well. I still turned out to be gay but I suppose I should be grateful that my father separated us."

"Arthur, I'm - _fuck_." Merlin actually has no idea how to respond to this. Arthur's admission takes him by surprise because this? This was the last thing he expected. It's not like Merlin spent the past ten years of his life pining for Arthur but he can't deny that he sometimes remembers how deeply he cared for his best friend and that in hindsight, those feelings were probably love.

It also explains why Arthur still expected some sort of explanation to how their friendship ended, as Merlin only realises now that he must have broken Arthur's heart back then. Even if knowing that wouldn't have changed things, would have, in fact, made it so much harder to break all ties, maybe he'd done it differently

They're interrupted then, by Gwen’s voice cutting through the silence. "Arthur!" She calls, a bit surprised to see him outside at this hour, already halfway down the step leading down from the porch as if she was about to run over to the other cabin to wake him up.

"Arthur, you need to come inside. Elena's got Elyan on the phone, something's happened."

Even though Merlin doesn't know Gwen at all, he can see the worry on her face. This can't be good. He and Arthur look at each other for a long moment, Arthur's body already angled away to walk towards the cabin but he hesitates for a second.

"Leave if you want to, Merlin. I don't care anymore."

Then, Arthur jogs up to the cabin and follows Gwen inside, leaving Merlin behind. Leaving is the best option, all things considered, but he can't. He's not sure if there is anything for him and Arthur to salvage but he doesn't want to leave things like that. He's not the person that Arthur thinks he is and he wants him to know that.

Merlin hasn't set foot inside this cabin before but he only takes a second to take in his surroundings. There's a large table on which the communications centre is set up, there's a kitchen area and a fireplace that might look cosy if only a fire were burning inside. Gwen, Lancelot, Gwaine and Percival are standing close to Elena, who is just passing the phone on to Arthur.

"What's going on?" He asks as soon as he's holding it against his ear while Elena turns around and unpacks one of the boxes standing to her feet. While Arthur listens to Elyan with a frown on his face, she sets up a loudspeaker and, after a minute, hands Arthur a cable to plug into the satellite phone so they can all hear what Elyan has to say. When Arthur does, a voice unfamiliar to Merlin fills the silence; it seems like every one of them is holding their breath.

"They just appeared out of nowhere. Hundreds of spaceships in the orbit. Nobody is able to establish contact with them and nobody knows who we're dealing with."

There's a grim look on Arthur's face now and none of them like what they are hearing very much.

"Okay. We should assume that they are hostile as long as we haven’t established contact with them to find out why they are here. If they are here seeking shelter, they will be trying to get a message through to us and if they only stumbled upon Earth, which is highly unlikely, they’ll either just move on or send shuttles down to explore the planet."

Merlin moves closer to Elena’s side and quietly asks, "Do you have another satellite phone? I need to talk to my team right now."

Elena nods and proceeds to open another box. Half a minute later, Merlin is holding the phone in his hands and dials Swordstone’s number. Mordred picks up after only a heartbeat has passed.

"Swordstone, who is this?" He asks and Merlin can hear Freya frantically talking to someone in the background.

"Mordred, it's me. Are you alright?"

"Thank fuck, it's you! The Prime Minister has called three times already because they have no clue what to do. There's an entire fleet of ships that just popped up on our screens about an hour ago. I've been trying to reach you but your phone's dead."

"Never mind the Prime Minister. Do you have anything for me?" Merlin asks. He's trying to listen in to Arthur's conversation with Elyan but he's only catching bits and pieces.

"I don’t know if it’s related. Freya updated the translation software last night and the message we intercepted on the Space Scanner came from a galaxy called Avalon System. Whoever is attacking us, I’m pretty sure they’re from that galaxy."

Cold dread fills Merlin in that moment and he zones out for a few seconds. “No,” he mumbles at the same time as Elyan interrupts Arthur with a very loud, “Fuck!”

"They just started attacking,” Elyan says, "They just...they just blew a whole into the ground where the White House used to be."

"Get out of there, Elyan. Right now." Arthur's grip on the table is so hard that his knuckles are white. Merlin only belatedly realises that Mordred started talking again, more panicked than before.

"Shit. SHIT. Merlin, they just started dropping bombs on London. This is an invasion."

Merlin shakes his head to clear his thoughts and get rid of the ringing in his ears. He needs to focus right now. He needs to make sure his team gets to safety.

"I know. Take Freya and as much of our essential equipment as you can manage and get to my parents' house as quickly as possible. Tell my father about the message on the Space scanner. He’ll explain everything when you get there, just get there fast and make sure you're all safe."

"What? Merlin, what the hell is going on?" Mordred asks, confused. Merlin doesn't have the time to explain it to him right now and they may only have a short window of opportunity to get away before Cardiff is under attack, too.

"Just trust me Mordred, okay? Do as I say. I'll contact you as soon as I can. Good luck." He hangs up. Everyone around him has fallen silent. Gwen is crying without making a sound, Lancelot's arms wrapped around her like he wants to protect her from something. It's only then that Merlin notices that the line they had to Elyan is dead.

“Get the others, please,” Arthur says to Percival, who disappears immediately. “Elena, try to get my father on the phone. Gwaine, I need to know what kind of weapons we brought.”

“Gwen,” he begins and Lancelot shoots him a warning look over her shoulder that Arthur ignores, “Elyan is going to be alright. We will do everything we can to get him back safely. Go outside, take a few minutes but I need you focused right now, okay?” He doesn’t need to tell Lancelot to stay with her. He takes her hand and they go outside while Arthur turns to Merlin.

“Is your team alright?” That isn’t exactly the question Merlin was expecting. It’s not the question he needs to be answering right now, either. Merlin hesitates for a second too long and they are interrupted by the rest of the team coming in, all of them looking mildly confused at the surprise assembly but still unaware of the reasons for it.

Arthur looks at Elena questioningly but she just shakes her head, ear still on the phone. “Keep trying,” he says.

“Arthur, what’s going on? Percy wouldn’t say and I was just in the middle of something,” Morgana says because she hasn’t seen the look in Arthur’s eyes yet. When he turns to face her and the others, she shuts up instantly.

“A few minutes ago, we received a call from Elyan. Unless this is a very elaborate joke, we have just been attacked by unknown alien forces which are in all likelihood carrying out an invasion of this planet. Everyone who has loved ones somewhere, call them and warn them. Make it quick.”

Merlin doesn’t know who on CAMELOT has any family to speak of but people in their line of work tend not to have many ties, mostly because they are hard to maintain. He wishes he could call his parents but knows that Mordred and Freya will do everything they can to maintain their safety. Neither of them has any family left.

Merlin feels panic bubbling up inside him at the thought of who they might be facing. Warnings aren’t going to do much good at this point. He considers that it might only be a coincidence, this attack and the message they picked up from the Avalon System, but he doesn’t dare to believe it for a second. It has to be them, the aliens that his father has told Merlin so much about, voice thick with hatred. They echo through Merlin’s head now, while Arthur keeps giving orders.

“Then I need all of you to get in touch with as many of our contacts as possible. We need to figure out how we can defend ourselves first, we need to set up a network that they can’t hack into because the ones already in place have probably been compromised already. We’re going to have to work with what we have got right here. At this point, our HQ might not even exist anymore. Secondly, we have to find out everything we can about the alien species attacking us, where they’re from and what they want, where their weaknesses lie, how they can be killed.”

Merlin knows that time has run out, that secrets are only worth keeping as long as they can protect someone but it sucks that of all the days they could have chosen, the Icà picked the day he had found Arthur again because whatever their feelings might have been when they were both seventeen, there’s no way Arthur is going to forgive him for this.

He tries not to look at anyone in the room when he says, “I can tell you everything you need to know about them.”

They’re engulfed by a very thick silence, almost like everyone in the room simultaneously stopped breathing.

“Merlin?” Arthur asks voice full of carefully veiled confusion and even though he doesn’t want to Merlin cannot stop himself from meeting his eyes because Arthur isn’t ever going to look at him the same way again.

There is little point in advanced apologies or beating around the bush. Merlin takes one long breath that sounds awfully loud to his own ears before he replies.

“Well, strictly speaking… I am not human.”

 

 

**May - CAMELOT Temporary Quarters, McGrath Area, Alaska**

Arthur fixes Merlin with his eyes for the longest of moments, trying to make some sense of his admission, trying to figure out what Merlin means and how it ties in with everything he knows about the other man.

“What the hell?” Gwaine asks, his voice cutting loud through the silence that has fallen. He is about to say something else but decides to shut up when Arthur shoots him a look before directing it back to Merlin.

“Explain,” Arthur says, cold and distant, because this means another lie, or a hundred more and he can’t take another betrayal from Merlin or from anyone, for that matter.

“It’s a long story.”

“I don’t care. Make it as short as possible but don’t leave anything out. Don’t you dare.”

“Arthur,” Morgana interrupts but Arthur shakes his head.

“Just don’t, Morgana.” He just needs to hear the truth from Merlin, right now.

Merlin drops his head for a moment and when he looks up again, the specks of gold in his eyes are glowing, bright and warm. Somebody gasps but Arthur can’t tell if it was Mithian or Elena, doesn’t care, either, because his eyes are glued to Merlin’s.

“Do you remember that my father always wears sunglasses? The reason is not that he is blind but that his eyes are bright gold like mine would be if my mother wasn’t human.”

Merlin blinks and the glow is gone again.

Morgana, who was standing nearest to Merlin, takes a few steps away from him until her back hits the wall. She looks equal parts fascinated and terrified. Her voice sounds a little jittery when she asks, “What exactly – what are you saying, Merlin?”

Merlin looks around the room and lets his head sink down in resignation, like he was expecting the reaction he’s getting and was hoping for something more. Everyone is regarding him with varying degrees of confusion and fear, careful to keep their distance.

“My father is a Dragonlord. He and the last of his kind came to Earth many decades ago, when the great dragon Kilgharrah guided their ships across the universe to a place where they would be safe. They brought dragon eggs with them, the only ones that were not destroyed when their home planet, _Ankh´ra_ , was invaded by an alien race living in that same star system.”

Arthur thinks he may finally understand why Balinor Emrys always seemed to be a bitter man, even though he had a wonderful wife and a brilliant son. He's not yet sure he believes Merlin but they've all seen so many weird and unbelievable things on this job that it’s hard to assume he's only making this up. Still, it's Merlin. Arthur feels like everything he ever knew was a very elaborate lie. How else could he have been friends with Merlin for so many years without realizing?

“That alien race came from Icàseon.” Merlin looks up again. Arthur notices that his hands are balled into fists now, his voice strained like he is trying to stay calm. “They call themselves Icà but in the dragon tongue their name is _Zha´threka_. They exploited their own planet for centuries until it was dying so quickly that there was nothing left to do but settle somewhere else. Instead of finding an uninhabited world to live, they came to _Ankh´ra_.” There is bitterness in Merlin’s voice, too.

“The Dragonlords have always been peaceful. They had nothing even resembling the weapons that humankind possesses because their society was built on a very simple rule: a dragon’s word is law. Dragons are creatures of wisdom. Whenever the Dragonlords had a dispute between them, they would seek the advice of their dragons and accept their decisions without resorting to violence and bloodshed. They were entirely defenceless against the Icà.”

For the first time since he started speaking, Merlin is looking directly at Arthur.

“I don’t know what has brought them here. My guess is they realised that life on _Ankh´ra_ is not possible without dragons. They have probably been searching for them ever since and it’s possible that they followed the Dragonlords to Earth, in hopes of finding the dragons, too. I have no way of being certain about their motives but I do know that they are dangerous. Their weapons are superior to ours and there is hardly anything that can kill them.”

“My god,” Mithian whispers. She looks scared but she also regards Merlin with compassion.

“How do you know it’s them? Couldn’t it be some other aliens?” Leon asks, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Arthur didn’t miss that he went for his gun the moment Merlin’s eyes glowed golden.

“Swordstone intercepted a message a few days ago, but we didn’t know where it was from until now. It really doesn’t matter now, does it? It’s too late. They’re already here. We’re being overrun!” Merlin seems to be losing control over his emotions now.

“Then what are we supposed to do? Sit here and wait for them to kill us all?” Gwaine asks heatedly.

“No!” Merlin snaps back at him, angry now either because of the hostility he’s receiving or because all his worst nightmares have just become reality.

Percival takes a few steps towards Merlin, holding his hands up in a placating gesture that Arthur knows him to use on people just before he takes them out. Merlin is able to reign his emotions back in before Percy has to knock him unconscious, though.

“No, obviously not. We have one advantage. You have found a dragon egg and a dragon’s fire can destroy anything. The Dragonlords lost their home planet because they were unprepared, overrun by a large military force, and because they themselves had no inkling of military defence. Humans, on the other hand…well. I’d say this planet has seen enough wars to qualify us as experts in war. We must find a way turn dragonfire into a weapon.”

“But how?” Morgana asks. “You said the egg wasn’t going to simply hatch, you said you didn’t even know if it was still alive and that you weren’t an expert- oh.” She narrows her eyes as if she’s finally caught on to what should have been obvious.

"You lied,” Arthur cuts in and it gives him a foul sense of satisfaction to see Merlin flinch at the words. He knows it’s childish but next to everything he has just learned about the threat they are facing, there’s this one nagging thought at the back of his mind that keeps saying ‘he lied’ like a broken record.

“Actually- well, I suppose I am more of an expert than I let on but I really don’t know if it’s still alive. I was hoping to bring the egg to my father; he would know what to do, exactly. I only know what he has told me. I’ve never seen a dragon in my life, let alone called upon one to hatch. But I’ll have to try. It’s the only chance we’ve got.”

His words seem to echo through the silence until Arthur says, “Everyone, you have your orders. Leave us.” Before anyone, especially Morgana, can protest, he adds a sharp, “Now!” that causes everyone but Merlin to leave more quickly than he would’ve thought possible.

Arthur shuts the door that Gwaine left standing open, probably on purpose, with so much force that it rattles the frame. When he turns around again, Merlin is sitting on one of the chairs at the table, watching him with a strange calm in his eyes, like he knows that a storm is coming his way and he's been preparing for it for years.

"Look, Arthur - I had no choice. I wanted to tell you but I couldn't."

A part of Arthur understands that Merlin is telling the truth but he's deliberately ignoring it because he's too angry to listen to reason right now.

"I don't fucking care. I don't think anything you've ever told me was true, was it? I mean - you're an alien, for fucks sake. What did you think I'd do if you told me? Stop being your friend? Tell my father? Tell the entire fucking world? Did you honestly think I'd have betrayed you like that?"

Merlin is shaking his head but he doesn't look one bit apologetic. It riles Arthur, that Merlin is so calm in the face of his fury.

"It wasn't about you at all, Arthur. It's not that I didn't trust you enough or that I didn't want you to know. The fact that the Dragonlords even exist on this planet is a secret that's so well guarded, hardly a handful of humans know. I was raised in the knowledge that I would never be able to tell anyone about it because it was too dangerous for anyone to know. If it had only concerned my own safety I'd have told you in heartbeat but I couldn't risk exposing my people. Please, you have to understand that."

Arthur knows he can't really argue with this but he says, "You should have trusted me," anyway. He isn't entirely sure what he would have done if Merlin had told him ten years ago but he knows that he'd never done anything that could've hurt Merlin.

"Yeah, well. It's too late now, isn't it? I can't go back in time to fix this, so here's one simple question for you - can you put it aside so we can figure out how to defend the fucking planet from this invasion, or are you going to sulk and be angry with me instead?" Merlin looks at Arthur expectantly, arms crossed in front of his chest like he's daring him to say something childish and stupid.

Arthur decides then and there that he can very well be angry with Merlin while coming up with a plan to save them all but there's something he needs to know first. He runs a hand through his hair and sits down opposite Merlin, fixing him with his stare after a moment.

"Yeah, okay. Let's save the planet. Just...is there anything else I should know? Because I need to be able to trust you, Merlin. I know that I hardly have a choice here but I swear - if there's anything else you've kept from me, my team is going to be working without your help. This only works if I can trust you and right now, the only thing I have to go on is your word because I don't know who you are anymore."

"Fair enough. I promise that you can trust me. We want the same thing. I need you and your team as much as you need me. I'm not going to fuck you over or betray you or lie to you again. Is that something we can work with?"

Arthur nods. It's simply going to have to be enough for now.

"Great," Merlin says, "then we'll have to come up with a plan."

"And said plan involves hatching a dragon?" Arthur can’t quite believe that this sentence is something which actually makes sense now.

"Yes. I'll have to talk to my father, if I can reach him. My team is going to find him and I'm going to try and contact them soon but it might take a while until they've reached the countryside."

This reminds Arthur that he'd like to have a word with his own father sooner rather than later. Uther isn't supposed to be active in their line of work anymore but Arthur knows about his countless contacts and allies all over the world - they're going to need them, especially if governments are falling. He doesn't even know if the President of the United States was saved in time, or if Air Force One affords him any proper safety in this situation.

"Good. What are we going to do if it works?" Arthur asks. He remembers Merlin's words about turning dragonfire into a weapon but just like Morgana, he's puzzled as to how they would do that.

Merlin looks like he's not quite sure himself. "Well. If I am correct, the Icà will start looking for the dragon eggs that were brought to Earth. According to my father, upon their arrival, the five oldest Dragonlords were each given an egg with the purpose of hiding it in a safe place. To be honest, whoever was responsible for the egg we've found either did a terrible job, or the egg has been moved because it shouldn't have been exposed like it was."

"So there are five eggs altogether, we've found one and we have no idea where the remaining four are?" Arthur asks, not liking their prospects very much.

"Not quite. My father knows the location of one of the eggs. It's going to be hidden away somewhere in Europe. If I succeed in hatching our egg, I will have to find a way to get to him so we can retrieve the second. Which leaves one in Asia, one in Australia and one in Africa," Merlin explains.

"Of course they're scattered all over the globe," Arthur says with a heavy sigh. It makes sense, of course, to not hide them all in one place but it's also one hell of an inconvenience now. "It's going to be tough to even get you to Europe, not to mention Australia, if these aliens are actually invading and also looking for the eggs."

Merlin nods. "Yes, which is why I'm going to go alone. No - let me finish," he says when Arthur is about to protest vehemently. Letting Merlin go on his own puts him in a lot of danger and Arthur never sends any of his team on a dangerous mission without backup. "It will be much easier for me to travel alone. I have ways of hiding myself very effectively and of getting people to help me, too. I can handle myself in a fight. And I can't ask anyone to risk their life for this."

"Don't be stupid. If this plays out the way I suspect it will, we're all going to be risking our lives sooner or later. You'd be on your own and you might not have a chance to contact us or your own team most of the time," Arthur says, trying very hard not to let this turn into another argument.

"You don't understand - this invasion was probably caused by the Dragonlords. They led the Icà straight to Earth and humanity will suffer for it. It's our responsibility to take care of it if we can."

"You're human, too, and you weren't even born when it happened," Arthur protests.

"Arthur, my father is one of the last Dragonlords alive and he is well past the age in which one can search entire continents for a hiding place. Only very few even survived the journey to Earth, fewer still are alive and I don't know if any of them had children. There's no one else to do this but it'll be tough, and I'm not going to drag anyone else with me. I'll be fine."

"When did you become so stubborn?" Arthur wonders, remembering a time when he could talk Merlin into almost anything if only he tried hard enough, even if it ended with a visit to the principal's office.

A curt knock, followed by Elena opening the front door, interrupts their conversation.

"Sorry, Arthur," she says, her eyes darting quickly towards Merlin and away again when he meets her gaze. "I've got your father on the line." She hands the phone over to Arthur, who gets up immediately and jogs upstairs for some privacy.

"Uther," he says once he's alone in the room that Percival and Gwaine have been sharing. It's a complete mess, for which Gwaine is undoubtedly fully responsible.

"Did you know this was going to happen?" Arthur asks. There is nothing he wouldn't put past his father, not even this, and he always knows more than he lets on. He knew they needed to get Merlin before they'd even seen the egg and he probably knows about the Dragonlords as well.

"Yes, Arthur, I knew that aliens were going to invade and brutally attack every major city on this planet and I didn't care to warn anyone about it," Uther replies, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Now, listen to me carefully," his father begins. Arthur can already tell that he's not going to like what he'll have to say.

 

 

**May - CAMELOT Temporary Quarters, McGrath Area, Alaska**

Merlin is eternally grateful when, around 7 pm, Mithian hands him a cup of tea and a sandwich and tells him to sit down for a couple of minutes to eat.

"Morgana said you'd prefer tea to coffee," she adds with a smile, for which Merlin is grateful, too. "Cheers," he says. He has never had to deal with other people's reactions to his secret before and he's starting to realise that maybe that wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Morgana seems torn between being pissed at him for not telling and angry with herself for not figuring it out on her own. She hasn't spoken to him yet other than to tell him that he'd better let her be there when the dragon hatches before rushing past. Leon's nearly gotten his head bitten off for trying to talk her down earlier but he's been handling it with the same calm he applies to most situations in life. Merlin also suspects that he isn't feeling as hurt and betrayed as Arthur and, to a certain degree, Morgana do, because they weren't ever close friends. He may be a little guarded and distant around him but that can be said about Gwen and Lancelot as well.

Elena seems as fascinated by him as she was by Hudson and if she wasn't too busy trying to reach several of CAMELOT’s contacts, she would probably be asking him an insane amount of questions. Percival very awkwardly asked him if the glowing eyes were the only alien trick he could do and quickly backed off when Merlin made the logs of wood in the fireplace burst into flames. Gwaine has been eyeing him suspiciously ever since.

Mithian is the only one who's been treating him with something resembling normalcy, which is both pleasant and surprising. Seeing as she is the least experienced CAMELOT team member, Merlin rather expected her to be scared of him. In fact, as a kid, he always expected people would be scared of him if they found out. Apparently he's not dealing with particularly fearful people here. The fact that an alien invasion seems much more dangerous than one single half-alien like him probably doesn't hurt, either.

Mithian waits until he's sitting down on the couch that's still pulled out before she shoves Arthur's blanket aside to join him.

"Have you heard? The President's dead. Nobody knows where the Vice-President is, either," she says and leans back with a heavy sigh.

Merlin can't say that he's surprised. They've received nothing but bad news all day. Half of the countries in Europe, including England, no longer have a functioning government. The same is true for Russia, India and Australia. Nobody seems to know what is happening in China or Japan and they haven't been able to establish contact with any country in South America, either. London, Paris and Berlin are as good as destroyed, as are Washington and New York. Nobody's keeping count of the casualties anymore. The worst part was probably hearing from Elyan again, who only managed to escape the CAMELOT HQ by sheer luck before it was blown apart while the evacuation was still undergoing. Everyone on the team had friends amongst the other employees who didn't make it out in time. They’re all long past the point of shutting down emotionally to preserve their sanity.

Merlin honestly doesn't think that the U.S. President could've done much to stop the _Zha´threka_ but it's another dead body and it'll make a lot of people lose hope when they didn't have much to begin with.

With Uther’s help, they managed to set up a communication network with various smaller CAMELOT offices across the country and some foreign agencies as well but other than that, information is only trickling through now. The internet's already gone and the _Zha´threka_ seem to be shutting down other ways of communication as well. Merlin's been trying to reach Mordred and Freya for a while, without success.

"Hey," Mithian says, nudging him gently. "We'll be alright. According to every apocalypse movie ever, humanity survives."

Merlin groans. "I used to love those. Now I've no idea what the appeal was. The end of the world isn't entertaining at all."

"I know. Still, you should eat that sandwich, I went to great lengths to save it from Gwaine's greedy mouth," she says and nods towards the plate Merlin is holding. His stomach gives an angry churn, too, so Merlin obeys and takes a bite. Who knows when he'll next be able to eat a proper sandwich.

"It's good. Thanks," he says around a mouthful and then proceeds to finish it off with three more bites.

"Okay. Now that you've been fed, I should make sure that Arthur eats, too." She hesitates for a second and then says, "He wasn't too hard on you, was he?"

Merlin shrugs. He still thinks that Arthur doesn't understand and that he'll probably be angry at Merlin for a good while because he's proud and always hated betrayal and maybe Merlin deserved some of his anger but the only thing that counts now is their ability to work together.

"I'll live," he says and shrugs again. Mithian doesn't seem especially reassured but she leaves him to drink his tea alone.

They're already losing time they don't have because Merlin can't reach his father. One of Arthur's contacts has a plane but Merlin needs to get to the East Coast if he wants to catch his flight to England before something happens to said plane. He suspects he'll only get so far by car.

Merlin would prefer to ask his father about the right way to hatch a dragon before he actually tries but if he hasn't spoken to him before dawn, he's going to have to do it without guidance. All he knows is that he'll have to name the dragon in the dragon tongue but Merlin isn't even sure that there's enough Dragonlord magic flowing through his veins to achieve that bond with the unborn dragon.

The egg is still in its case, now sitting on the small coffee table that was moved against the wall to make room for the bed. Merlin finishes his tea and sets the cup down on the floor before he gets the case. He sits back down and takes the egg out. The shell feels warm against his fingertips and it seems somewhat heavier than before. He crosses his legs and lets the egg rest before him, one hand resting on top to keep it from tipping sideways and rolling away.

He stares at it for what feels like hours, trying to remember everything his father told him about the birth of dragons, going over the countless names he was taught in the dragon tongue, names from tales and legends. None of them are right, Merlin can tell, and that makes him nervous, so he closes his eyes and just concentrates on his breathing while counting the seconds in time with his pulse.

Suddenly, it's not numbers he says in his mind but a name.

_Aithusa, Aithusa, Aithusa..._

Merlin gasps in surprise and opens his eyes again, which are glowing golden, the name still ringing in his ears but also vibrating somewhere deep inside him, waiting impatiently to be spoken. It’s almost painful to keep it in, so Merlin lets go and says it, his voice heavy and foreign to even himself.

" _Aithusa_."

He feels the response from within the egg immediately, like an echo of his words. Then, the shell heats up so quickly, Merlin has to pull his hand away. The egg stays perfectly still and a crack appears at the top.

Merlin hardly registers that his eyes are swimming with tears because he can't remember ever feeling like this before, pure joy rushing through him to fill every fibre in his body. Suddenly he wants to share this moment with someone because it shouldn't pass with only him as a witness. He dimly remembers that Morgana should be upstairs and calls her when a second crack appears, quickly followed by a third.

His call must have been very loud or maybe he just sounded alarmed because Morgana is with him almost instantly, the "What is it, Merl-" dying on her lips when she sees the egg. Only a few seconds later, the front door opens and Arthur, Leon and Gwen come in.

Morgana quickly silences them with a hushed, "The Dragon's hatching." They all shuffle closer to watch as the little dragon pushes her head through the shells, then her wings, regards them all with steely blue, curious eyes and lets out a delighted shriek. Her fine, smooth scales are perfectly white and she's the most brilliant thing Merlin's ever seen in his life.

" _Rhaá Aithusa_ ," Merlin says in the dragon tongue. " _Notha´kin Merlin_."

He knows that it will take some time until Aithusa will be able to speak but Dragons supposedly are quick learners. For now, he just holds out his hand and Aithusa spreads her wings for balance and nudges it with her snout. The movement tips the remaining shell she's still sitting in and she tumbles out with a quiet huff. She struggles for a moment but gets up again quickly.

"Aithusa? Is that her name?" Gwen asks from somewhere to his left.

"How do you know it's a girl?" Leon asks, a little puzzled, which gets him fond laugh from Morgana, who says, "You can't tell? It seems obvious to me."

Merlin still can't look away from the baby dragon as she clumsily explores the bed and makes a great deal of pushing her head into the pile of blanket that's been put aside.

"Yes, her name is Aithusa," Merlin replies as he watches her climb the pile until she's reached the top, from where she can see more of her surroundings. She spreads her wings again to keep her balance and succeeds this time around.

"She's beautiful," Arthur says and Merlin can only agree.

 

* * *

"Are you sure you have everything you need?" Morgana asks for the third time and hands him another bottle of water that Merlin stores behind the driver's seat of the car he'll be taking.

Merlin smiles. It seems like she's forgiven him for being a liar because he remembered to call her when he accidentally hatched Aithusa’s egg. While Merlin was packing, she kept her entertained and figured out that even baby dragons have sharp teeth and love grilled meat. Half of the food supplies stacked in the car are various kinds of dried meat.

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure, Morgana," he says and closes the door. It's almost 11 am, the time he's set for his departure and he wishes he didn't have to go. He has no illusions about the journey that lies ahead - it won't be pretty. He hasn't been able to speak to his team or his parents. CAMELOT is only in contact with a handful of other people right now but the general consensus is that the _Zha´threka_ have indeed attacked globally and that they're establishing control over Earth's population very quickly. There have been no demands or messages, only violence against those who resisted. They are neglecting less populated areas, however, which is why Arthur, Gwen, Leon, Percival and Gwaine left for the nearby town to help the inhabitants. Merlin was hoping they'd be back by now because he was asleep when they set off and didn't get to say goodbye.

Just then, Elena, followed by Lancelot and Mithian, come outside and join them by the car. Lancelot is carrying a large basket that was previously used to carry firewood but has now been cushioned and padded, with Aithusa comfortably curled up in the middle but wide awake. He seems a little reluctant to let go.

"Merlin - Arthur just sent a message through. He said you should leave now as planned because they won't be able to make it back in time. He says good luck," Elena says before she steps up and hugs Merlin, which is a little awkward at first since she's pinned his arms to his sides and he can't hug her back until he's freed them.

Lancelot and Morgana have taken to securing Aithusa's basket in the passenger seat as Merlin hugs Mithian who looks like she might want to cry for a second there and then smiles at him bravely anyway. "Be in touch as soon and often as you can," she says and Merlin promises to do his best, even if they both know it'll be difficult to check in regularly.

Lancelot shakes his hand and smiles at him warmly, says that he and Gwen will postpone their wedding until he's back with them safe and sound. It's like Aithusa's birth was enough to win him over and make him warm up to the idea of Merlin being a Dragonlord, too.

Once Morgana is done saying goodbye to Aithusa, she wraps Merlin up in another one of her perfect hugs and whispers, "Get back to us in one piece. I know you'll take good care of her." Merlin squishes her a little and whispers back, "Of course I will. Don't worry about me too much. And tell Arthur he's an ass."

At that, a laugh vibrates through Morgana's body. "He is, isn't he? I bet he could have made it back in time but is still too hurt to apologise for his behaviour yesterday. He'll come around, though. He cared about you very much once."

Merlin can't help but say, "I felt the same way about him, too."

"Oh, I know, Merlin. I know. But you were both such idiots back then." She presses a kiss to his cheek and lets go of him. "Just get back soon."

Merlin nods because he doesn't trust himself to speak anymore. He's afraid he won't see these people again and he's angry at Arthur for not saying goodbye because he'll regret that if something happens to either one of them. It's stupid and Merlin hates him a little bit for it and he doesn't think that that's unjustified.

Aithusa lets out an impatient noise then, probably because she's already bored of the insides of the car. It's a shame she'll have to spend quite a bit of time in there for the next couple of days, until they run out of fuel if they can't find any along the way. Merlin doesn't like to think ahead too much because there's no point.

He gets in the car then and softly lets his finger run down Aithusa's spine, which Morgana already found out she likes quite a lot. When he starts the car, she is startled for a moment but then tries her best to climb out of the basket to see where the noise and vibrations are coming from. Merlin lets her for now and opens the car window to wave at the others one last time.

"Make sure Gwaine doesn't eat all the food while I'm gone, okay? I'll talk to you soon," he calls and makes sure that Aithusa is still inside the basket before he starts driving. He watches the others waving in the rear-view mirror until they're tiny pinpoints in the distance.

 

 

**November - CAMELOT Base, McGrath Area, Alaska**

Arthur knows that patience is a virtue but he's never particularly cared about being virtuous. He also knows that he's driving everyone on the team mad, Elena especially, because whenever he's not doing anything more important, he hangs out around the communications station as if his presence and sheer will power could make a message from Merlin come through.

It's been a month since he let them know that he'd found a way to get back to them and that he'd be bringing someone new who was waiting to meet them. Arthur was out on a mission when that call came through. Since then, they haven't heard from him, they have no idea what kind of transport he'll be using or when they can reasonably expect him to arrive and it’s driving Arthur nuts.

It's not the only thing responsible for his foul mood, of course, but he is almost used to the bad news they receive with every radio call that makes it through. They still hardly know enough about the Icà or their motives but it sure as hell seems like they won't be going away soon. Most of their fleet has landed on Earth now, with the huge mothership forever hovering over some part of Europe.

In the beginning, there was a lot of open resistance that cost a lot of people their lives. Since then, most of them have accepted their fate, performing forced labour for the Icà to build accommodations to their needs. There are rumours about medical experiments on humans and proof that some opportunists are working with the aliens in hopes of securing a place for themselves in this grim new world. The thought of that makes Arthur sick.

Then there's a global underground resistance that is, much to Arthur's sorrow and dismay, being run by none other than his father. Arthur never thought he'd one day return to being Uther's second in command but then he also wasn't expecting an alien invasion in his lifetime and there may be a pun in there about 'never say never' but Arthur can't remember the last time anything made him laugh.

Half of his team is away on missions that he thinks aren't worth the risk, inflicting nothing but minor wounds on the enemy that heal too fast and could cost his people their lives. He gets that they have to do something; that attacking alien transports can be useful but it hasn't shown any effects so far. Uther refuses to let him lead a mission to free workers when they are being transported to their working sites or to destroy one of their bloody spaceships, to do something that's at least worth the risk. He supposes that he and his father fundamentally disagree on how this guerrilla war should be fought but there's never enough time to discuss it. In the end, Arthur always grits his teeth and follows orders because they can't afford disobedience if they want to stand a chance.

The news that Merlin was coming back and that he was most likely bringing another dragon had lifted their spirits for few days but then they received a report saying that Leon had been seriously wounded and was fighting death in one of their so called 'medical camps', luckily one with an actual surgeon on site. Morgana's face was a stony mask for days and she screamed and raged at Arthur because he wouldn't let her go to visit Leon, even though she knew just as well as he did that she wouldn't have made it through enemy territory alive. The last they heard, Leon was still alive and the nurse Elena spoke to was mildly optimistic but they haven't been able to establish contact since.

Everyone but Gwen has also given up on ever seeing Elyan alive again. They've had no news from him since the day of the invasion. They never speak of it because Gwen, whom Arthur has never seen violent unless she had to be, broke Gwaine's nose when she punched him for saying that her brother was dead. It's been a strain on Arthur’s friendship with her as well, seeing as he promised her they'd do everything in their powers to get Elyan back, only to realise that there was hardly anything they could do without a clue of where to find him. He's had to tell her a thousand times that he can't just send her and Lancelot off to search the entire continent for him.

Some days, Arthur wouldn't even be getting up if it weren't for Mithian dragging him out of bed without mercy. They've been roommates ever since she figured out why he was sleeping on the incredibly uncomfortable pull-out couch instead of sharing a room with her and exploded in his face saying that whoever told him she had a crush on him was pulling his leg and that she found out he was gay ages ago. Most of the time, she's the most uncomplicated person to be around and he appreciates her both as a friend and as an agent. She's proven her worth in countless of missions, which is why she isn't at HQ to keep him sane but somewhere on the west coast to gather intel, especially on whether the rumours about lab experiments being performed on humans are true.

Percy and Gwaine are with her, which has Elena on edge 24/7 and makes her even less tolerant towards Arthur's constant nagging about news from Merlin. This morning, she finally snapped and threw him out. Arthur's been letting off steam by cutting up firewood, which at least has some use because it’s winter and Alaska is fucking freezing. There aren't a lot of perks to their location but they haven't been found by the Icà yet, though the nearby town was raided and abandoned before CAMELOT could intervene. It seems like Alaska holds little interest to the Icà now, which is about the only piece of luck they've had so far.

“Arthur,” someone says and he momentarily thinks he’s starting to hear things. He could have sworn that Gwen or Mithian just spoke his name but when he turns around, no one’s there. Then, with a fluttering of wings and a soft thud, Aithusa lands opposite him on the pile of wood he’s been stacking – at least he’s assuming that it’s Aithusa. She’s grown a lot since he last saw her, on the day she hatched. She was tiny then and is now the size of a big dog but her eyes are as bright as he remembers them and really, how many white dragons are there who’d know his name? She’s learned how to fly, obviously.

“It is good to see you again,” she continues because Arthur is a little speechless and wow, he wasn’t expecting her to be speaking English, either. He tears his eyes off her to look around half wondering if Merlin is perhaps standing next to a tree laughing at him but he’s nowhere to be seen. Arthur panics because why would Aithusa be here without Merlin, how would she even know how to find the way? Something must have happened to him, every scenario rushing through Arthur’s mind until he remembers Morgana’s voice scolding him, “I think Merlin would’ve appreciated it if you’d said goodbye.”

Aithusa sounds almost amused when she says, “Merlin is well and there is no need to worry. He has sent me to ask that someone come and pick him up at the coast because he is not up for walking across half of Alaska if it can be helped.”

Arthur sighs, relief rushing through him and he drops the axe he’s been gripping so hard his knuckles turned white. He flexes his fingers and nods, wonders if dragons can read minds or if they’re just good at sensing emotions and decides that he’ll simply ask Merlin as soon as he’s picked him up.

“Good, that’s…good,” he says, nodding to himself, already making a quick mental calculation to estimate if their fuel will last for a trip to the coast and back again. They’re running a little low but are expecting new supplies within the next couple of days.

“I will lead the way, if you do not mind. Merlin has tried to explain those coordinates to me but they are a bit pointless in my opinion. You will have to keep up,” Aithusa says and suddenly leaps into flight, the tips of her left wing ruffling Arthur’s hair as she glides towards the cabin porch where Morgana has just appeared.

"Of course she had to become cheeky," Arthur mumbles to himself. It's hardly surprising for someone who's only had Merlin for company since they were born.

 

* * *

The drive to the pick-up on point takes far longer than Arthur would’ve liked. The territory is hard to manoeuvre, the trees constantly forcing him to change his course until Aithusa sweeps down to point him in the right direction again. He was hoping to be able to ask her questions about what happened to her and Merlin in their months of absence but she has to rise higher to be able to fly properly and to keep her orientation.

This leaves Arthur alone with his thoughts because he didn't bring any of the team members remaining at the cabins. In Mithian’s absence they have no one to properly replace Elena at the comms, Lancelot and Gwen were on guard duty and spending several hours in an enclosed space with his sister didn't seem very appealing to him. Morgana didn't volunteer, either.

He doesn't even have music with him too fill the silence, as he forgot to bring his mp3-Player in his haste to get going. The problem is, he doesn't know if the trip back will be made better or worse by Merlin’s company. Arthur is glad he'll have a chance to set things right with him, well aware that the way he let Merlin leave without settling their differences and without saying goodbye wasn't exactly nice. Contrary to popular belief (or simply Morgana’s), he doesn't aspire to being an asshole.

It took him a while to realise that he probably should have handled things with Merlin a little differently and that holding a grudge against him now wasn’t helping anybody. He'd still been angry with him for trying to sneak off with the dragon egg, railed by their fight and embarrassed by the admission he'd made about the feelings he'd once had for Merlin. Arthur hates lies, has hated them since the day Uther told him the truth about Igraine’s death, that she didn’t die in a car accident almost a year after Arthur’s birth but in childbirth. Arthur spent years of his childhood grasping for even the faintest memory of his mother, hating himself for not remembering when in fact there wasn't anything to remember at all.

Finding out that Merlin had been lying to him since the day they'd met, about something so fundamental, too - it unravelled something ugly inside him which he didn't know how to hold back. It’s something he should probably apologise for.

Night is falling by the time the trees start growing thinner and Aithusa finally has enough space to fly closer to the car. Only a short time later, she lands and nods at Arthur, so he stops, kills the engine and steps out of the SUV. They're still a good bit away from the shore but Arthur can hear and smell the sea in the distance.

“Wait here,” Aithusa instructs him, “Merlin has called me to his hiding place. I’ll bring him to you.”

 Before Arthur can protest, she pushes off the ground and quickly disappears into the darkness. He sighs, his breath immediately visible due to the bone-chilling cold. Arthur is somewhat used to it now but he still wishes they were located further south. The car’s thermometer indicated that the temperatures rose slightly the closer they got to the coast but it’s still ‘fucking freezing’, as Gwaine likes to complain every so often. He is glad for a chance to move his limbs, though, so he walks around the car in circles, listening for any sounds besides the soft crunching of his footsteps. At least they’d been able to get some proper winter clothing from the town after both the Icà and the inhabitants were gone, otherwise they wouldn’t have lasted very long up here.

Not for the first time, Arthur wonders how Merlin managed to arrive at the coast to the Bering Sea of all places. Perhaps he found a boat, though even that seems unlikely. It’s impossible to get anywhere by air travel now – the entire airspace is being very closely monitored by the Icà and they are merciless at shooting planes down without so much as a warning. Even if the high sea is less monitored, Arthur doubts that a large ship would have gone unnoticed.

Just as he’s contemplating getting back into the car, he can make out the silhouette of a man slowly walking towards him. Something that looks like a huge bird of prey but must be Aithusa is flying in circles above his head. Arthur wonders why Merlin is moving so slowly and then he curses because Merlin must have been waiting out here in the cold for hours.

Arthur is at Merlin’s side in an instant, already removing his thick jacket and wrapping Merlin up in it. Merlin is very pale, his lips already blue and he’s shaking so hard that Arthur’s not sure how he managed to walk at all.

There’s a shrill shriek that cuts through the silence and something collides with Arthur’s chest. He loses his balance and finds himself sitting on the cold ground. He blinks, confused. A small dragon lands between him and Merlin, snarling at him. It would probably be breathing fire, too, if it wasn’t still so young, or at least that’s what Arthur assumes. They’d all agreed that the newcomer Merlin was bringing with him had to be another dragon or perhaps someone from the Swordstone team. Merlin has evidently found the second of five eggs hidden throughout the world.

“I only want to help,” Arthur says to the little dragon, even if he has no idea if it can speak English at all. He’s a little clueless as to the best way of getting past it but he needs to check on Merlin quickly, to see how bad his hypothermia is.

Thankfully, Aithusa lands next to the other dragon and immediately begins to talk to it in a language Arthur most definitely doesn’t know. He takes that as his cue to get up, though slowly, and approaches Merlin again.

“Merlin, hey, it’s me,” Arthur says to get his attention and takes his face between his gloved hands to make Merlin look at him. Merlin’s lips part into a lopsided smile that reveals his chattering teeth but it relieves Arthur a little when Merlin says, “Arthur”, because that means he at least recognizes him.

“He is ice cold,” Aithusa says. She has managed to get the smaller dragon to calm down and is closer to Arthur and Merlin now. “How can that be? He is a Dragonlord! His blood should be running hot.” She sounds confused and angry and scared. Arthur almost forgot that she’s still young and that she probably only had Merlin there to teach her. Getting Merlin into the warmth of the car is more important than soothing her fears, though. It’s not far away but Merlin’s movements are slow and he keeps stumbling, so after a couple more steps, Arthur stops him and instead picks him up to carry him to the car. “I-I can walk,” Merlin protests but he’s too weak to struggle much.

“Yes, but you’re too slow, Merlin. See, we’re already there.” He sets Merlin down but keeps supporting him as he opens the door.

“What is wrong with him?” Aithusa demands to know, already at his heel. The smaller dragon is right behind her, still eyeing Arthur suspiciously but not making any further attempts to attack.

“He’s human, too. If humans are exposed to cold temperatures for too long, their body temperature drops and they get sick,” Arthur explains while he is checking Merlin’s pulse. His heart rate has decreased a little but not too much. “I think he got lucky. We just need to get him warm again as soon as possible.”

There are a few blankets and an extra jacket in the backseat. Arthur helps Merlin climb into the car and begins to drape them around him. “What were you thinking, waiting out here in the cold?” Arthur asks.

“Didn’t know when you’d be here. There wasn’t anywhere else. Fell asleep.” Merlin’s fingers are incredibly cold when they brush past Arthur’s because he’s trying to help with the blankets. “Hold still,” Arthur commands. “Why didn’t you build a fire?” He wants to keep Merlin talking so he at least stays awake now.

“I can help to warm him up again. My body is always warm,” Aithusa says, apparently calm again now that she knows what is happening to Merlin. She presses her side against Arthur’s leg and he can feel pleasant warmth seeping through the layers of his clothing.

“Okay. Just stay close to him and also try to keep him awake by talking to him.” He waits until Aithusa has climbed into the backseat, a little clumsily and as though she would rather not be riding in the car if it weren’t absolutely necessary. The smaller dragon follows her and curls up in Merlin’s lap. Arthur closes the door and takes the driver’s seat again.

“Let’s get you home,” he says, looking at Merlin’s pale face in the mirror and starts driving.

 

* * *

As it turns out, on top of being very wise and cheeky, Aithusa is also an excellent space-heater, but Arthur won’t tell her that. He listened to an entire conversation between the two dragons and Merlin in a language he doesn’t speak, though it was quiet and Merlin spoke very little. At least it kept him awake.

They’re still about two hours away from the CAMELOT base when Merlin suddenly says, “Thanks for picking me up, Arthur.” Arthur glances back at him and nods. Some colour has returned to Merlin’s cheeks but he is still huddled into the blankets and doesn’t seem keen on losing them.

“How are you feeling?” Arthur asks. He tries to keep his voice down because the little dragon whose name he still doesn’t know has fallen asleep in Merlin’s lap. Aithusa has given him some space as well and is curled up on the seat behind Arthur but her eyes are wide open.

“I’m still a little cold, to be honest. The next time you travel somewhere before an alien invasion hits, could you make sure it’s Hawaii, maybe?”

“I’ll keep that in mind, yeah. Though I swear if we were in Hawaii right now, you’d probably be suffering from a heatstroke, so I’m not sure if we’d be any better off,” Arthur says. Merlin has always been good at getting himself into tricky situations. It’s nice to know that he still has that particular trait of character. Since Merlin left, Arthur has been often wondering if he ever really knew the other man at all.

“I guess I should have stayed on board longer,” Merlin concedes.

“So you did get here by ship?” Arthur has been keeping his questions back because he wanted Merlin to stop shivering before he bombarded him with them but he seems to be doing okay now, so it’s time to find out what Merlin has been up to in the past couple of months.

Merlin can’t be feeling too bad anymore because he honestly smirks at Arthur and shakes his head. “Not quite,” he says. “Do you remember Will? He went to school with us but I don’t know if…” He trails off then and Arthur sighs inwardly because of course they can’t just be past this entire awkward business.

“I remember him,” Arthur says. Of course he remembers, even if they didn’t spend any time in each other’s company. He spent a few months secretly hating Will because he had replaced Arthur as Merlin’s best friend. “What’s he got to do with this?”

“Well. He joined the Navy after we graduated and we lost touch about a year later because he became a submariner. It’s not easy to get a hold of someone who spends most of their time beneath the ocean’s surface.” Merlin shrugs. “Anyways,” he tries to continue but Arthur interrupts him.

“Are you telling me that you got back to Alaska on a bloody submarine?” Of all the ways to travel, that wasn’t something Arthur had even thought about. It makes a lot of sense, of course – submarines can travel long distances undetected and the Icà probably don’t even know they exist. It would be plausible to assume that aliens would study and survey a planet before invading it but their enemy knows astoundingly little about Earth. Still, even if he had thought of a submarine, it would have been fairly difficult to get a hold of one.

“Yes. I didn’t even think of it but my father did. As soon as the invasion began, he contacted Will – he’d been made Captain only a couple of weeks ago, wouldn’t tell me how he managed that at his age but when I decided it was time to come back, we got in touch and he picked me up. Sorry that Nerrou attacked you earlier – we had to lock them both up in Will’s private quarters because of the crew and she didn’t like that very much.”

“Neither did I,” Aithusa grumbles. Merlin pulls his hand out from beneath the blankets and lets it rest between her shoulders. “I know, _elakha`in_.”

Arthur can only imagine how terrible it must be for any living being that is used to fly to be locked up in a single room on a submarine. “So, Nerrou? How did you find her?” He asks because he’ll be able to get more details on Will and his submarine later.

“When I got to England, it took me a month to find my parents and my team. When I did, my father and I set off to find the egg he had hidden away in the Scottish highlands and I woke her up. If only I had a guide to show me the way to the other eggs, that would be very convenient. I wouldn’t have stayed this long at all if we hadn’t been waiting to hear from one of my father’s sources about the location of the Australian egg but that never came through and the _Zha´threka_ are most present in Europe. It was getting more and more difficult to hide, so I had to leave,” Merlin explains.

“They’re alright, though? Your parents and friends, I mean,” Arthur asks. He’d always liked Hunith, a kind and wonderful woman and used to think that his own mother would have been just like her. Balinor never really warmed up to him but he was a good father to Merlin and that was a lot more than Arthur had ever been able to say about his own father.

“For the most part. My Mum sends her love.”

Arthur smiles softly. He hopes that they can stay as safe as possible in this situation because too many good people are dying and he doesn’t want Merlin to suffer the loss of a parent.

“Gaius is dead,” Merlin says next, very quietly.

Arthur swallows. He never knew Merlin’s uncle well but he remembers him from the family dinners in the Emrys household to which Arthur was always invited. He was a witty old man, always smoking a pipe and telling fabulous stories.

“I’m so sorry, Merlin,” Arthur says.

They drive on in silence for a while, until Arthur realises they’re only about half an hour away from the base. Merlin dozed off fairly quickly and Arthur let him because he looked absolutely exhausted. Arthur figures that they’ll have time to talk later and that he’ll have a chance to apologise then, so he doesn’t wake Merlin but drives on through the darkness until he reaches the perimeter around the cabins that is secured by traps and whoever is on guard duty at the moment.

There, he stops the car and gets out. It takes him a while to find one of the special alarms that lets the others know it’s someone of the team approaching and when he gets back, Merlin has woken up.

“Just letting the others know it’s us so they don’t start shooting,” Arthur explains. He uses the next couple of minutes to catch Merlin up on where the absent team members are and how everyone’s doing. It’s not a particularly gratifying conversation and it once again gives Arthur the feeling that he’s been letting a lot of people down lately.

“Here we are,” he says with false cheer in his voice, “Home, sweet home. There’s even a welcoming committee, look at that.” In the faint light falling through the open front door, Morgana and Elena are waiting for them.

 

* * *

Merlin sleeps for 15 hours straight after Morgana and Elena let him out of their sight for more than 5 minutes but his dragons are more than happy to stay up and move as much as possible. Especially Nerrou doesn’t get tired of spreading her wings. Arthur spends a lot of time talking to Aithusa, who begins to tell him about all the important things that happened to her and Merlin.

Arthur gets the general picture that Merlin could have died about a thousand times on his way to the east coast alone. He also understands that while the situation in Northern America is bad, they have it easy compared to the people living in Europe and that it’s a miracle that Merlin made it back in one piece as well.

Lancelot took a complete health-check on Merlin but other than being a little undernourished, he seems to be fine. At least the hypothermia didn’t do any lasting damage, although Merlin still gets cold very easily and spends most of his time in immediate vicinity to the fireplace. The problem is that Merlin’s rarely alone there, seeing as the communications station is in the same room, so Arthur has hardly had a chance to speak to him alone. It seems like there’s always either a team member or one of the dragons around and Nerrou is still eyeing him weirdly sometimes while Arthur has gotten the distinct feeling that Aithusa knows exactly what he is struggling with and that it amuses her greatly.

A few days after Merlin’s return, Arthur steps inside the cabin with his arms full of logs for the fireplace and finds Merlin and Gwen there, sharing a blanket and a bit of dried meat. Merlin is in the middle of telling a story again because apparently they still haven’t heard about all the things he’s been through. Arthur listens in while stacking the firewood in case it’s one he hasn’t heard yet.

“After they distracted the _Zha´threka_ and showed me a way out, they took me to their camp. It’s amazing, is what it is – they’re just a bunch of kids, really, and they’d probably all be dead if it weren’t for this one man who’s taking care of them, teaching them how to fight and to survive. I’ve seen a lot of ugliness in people since all of this began, people who left the weak and defenceless behind, only acting to save their own skins but there’s some good, too.”

Arthur has heard a lot about the people who didn’t help Merlin along the way, who refused to give him shelter or food or medicine. Some of it didn’t surprise him but a few things did shock him because in spite of what the world has come to, he still likes to believe that humanity isn’t lost yet. If it were, they could just as well stop fighting now.

“I had to stay with them until my injury healed enough for me to get back to Aithusa and I spent a lot of time talking to the Gold Panther, that’s what he calls himself. He’s genuinely a good guy, says he couldn’t just leave a couple of kids alone and then their group just grew and he does his best to lead them,” Merlin says, who hasn’t noticed that Gwen just dropped the piece of meat she was holding and is staring at Arthur like she’s too scared to ask what they’re both thinking.

“Merlin,” Arthur says, “did you happen to catch his real name?” He doubts it because Merlin would have made the connection then – he knows Elyan’s name at least, even if they’ve never met and he doesn’t know what he looks like.

As expected, Merlin shakes his head. “No, he never offered it and that’s what everyone called him. Why?” he asks, a little confused. Arthur’s still looking at Gwen who still seems unable to say anything and he knows it’s most likely a stupid coincidence but he hopes that maybe it’s more than that because he’s sure that Gwen will be devastated if it isn’t.

“Gold Panther was Elyan’s code name on missions. Is there a chance that- ,” Arthur asks but Merlin is already nodding, suddenly very alert. He turns to look at Gwen. “Do you have a picture of Elyan?” Merlin asks her and takes her hand, which was still mid-air, trembling slightly. The contact seems to snap Gwen out of it.

“No, I don’t – I didn’t bring one when we left D.C.,” she says but Arthur is one step ahead of her, already over at the computer, logging into the CAMELOT database.

 

 

He pulls up Elyan's file, glad that Elena downloaded everything from their servers before all networks went down. “I’ve got one right here,” he says and waits for Merlin to get up and join him, followed by Gwen, who looks like her life might depend on what Merlin says next.

Merlin takes one thorough look at the picture of Elyan in his CAMELOT uniform, staring at the camera with an earnest expression and says, “That’s him. That’s definitely him.”

Gwen stares at Merlin like she doesn’t quite believe him. When he offers her a wide smile and nods, she throws her arms around Merlin and starts crying, saying “Thank you” between her sobs of relief.

While Merlin comforts her and promises to tell her everything about meeting Elyan, Arthur contacts Lancelot who is on watch with Morgana and offers to take his shift so he can be with Gwen. It takes her a few minutes to calm down enough to let go of Merlin but when she turns around to Arthur, he already knows what she’s going to ask.

“We’ll talk about that later, okay?” He doesn’t want to make any more promises he can’t keep. He can’t send Gwen and Lance away before Mithian and the boys are back anyway because that would compromise the safety of their base.

“What?! Arthur, you can’t seriously say no now! He’s alive, Elyan’s alive and we know where he is! We need to get him as soon as possible.” There’s so much hurt and disbelief in Gwen’s face that Arthur almost caves. She hasn’t smiled at him in months and he wishes he could give her what she wants but he can’t say yes now and take it back later because it turns out the risks are too great.

“I am not saying no, Gwen. I’m saying we’ll talk about it later, when we’ve all calmed down and I’ve assessed the risks involved!”

“I don’t care about risks, he’s my brother,” she says, he voice rising dangerously, as if she’s about to start yelling at him, while Arthur does his best to keep his own somewhat calm. He’s glad that Merlin is staying out of it, although he’s looking at Arthur with his eyebrows raised.

“But I do. It’s my job to care about the risks and to make sure they’re not too high, so I don’t lose any more of my agents and I expect you to understand that. Now, let Merlin tell you all the details. Lance will be here soon and I am taking over his watch.”

When Gwen opens her mouth to protest further, Arthur loses his patience. “Later,” he barks before she can say anything and thankfully, that’s when Lance opens the cabin door.

 

* * *

Several hours later, Arthur gets back from watch and is surprised to find Merlin outside, seemingly doing nothing while standing on the porch and staring up at the sky. When he notices Arthur stepping out of the shadow, he raises his hand but remains where he is, waiting for Arthur to join him.

“Hi,” Arthur says once he’s made his way over. He leans against the railing and looks at Merlin, who after a second meets his eyes and responds with a smile.

“How’s Gwen?” Arthur left the cabin immediately after Lancelot arrived to avoid further discussion.

“Exhausted. She’s been afraid that her brother is dead for so long now, I think the news that he isn’t shocked her just as much as it’s been a relief. And she’s still worried because it’s been a few months since I met him, obviously.”

That’s something Arthur thought about, too. Apart from the risks involved, he doesn’t want to send Gwen off just to find Elyan’s body. “What do you think his chances are out there?” he asks Merlin.

“I’m not too worried, to be honest. He’s not on his own and he trained those kids well. Some of them are around 18, too – they have his back just as much as he has theirs but he can’t leave them or else he would have found us long ago. His chances were definitely better than mine and I made it,” Merlin replies and shrugs. “I’ve told Gwen how to get there. I’m sure she’ll find them. Their camp was fairly safe, too, so I don’t think they moved it unless they absolutely had to. It’s enough to let them go, seeing as that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I can’t afford to lose any of them,” Arthur says, defensively. “They’re not just my agents, Merlin. They’re my friends and family.” He doesn’t say _they’re all I have_ , even though it’s true.

“I wasn’t judging you. I know that and Gwen knows it, too. She’ll understand your reasons eventually but you have to understand that he’s her brother and that if you don’t let her go, she’ll leave without your approval. If it weren’t for Lancelot, I think she would have been gone by now, actually.”

Arthur sighs. He was half expecting them both to be gone but it seems like Lancelot’s rationality won out in the end.

“Alright.” Arthur doesn’t feel like he has much of a choice anymore but he hopes that Gwen will at least be persuaded to wait until Mithian, Gwaine and Percival are back. He’ll just have to hope that Merlin is right when he says that Elyan’s chances of survival were good.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you,” Arthur says then because he has just realised that they’re alone for the first time since he brought Merlin back and that now is as good a time as ever to apologise.

Merlin looks at him, his head tilted a little to the side and nods to indicate that he is listening.

“I’m sorry for how I behaved back in May. I should have been there to say goodbye when you left and I had no right to be so childish because you never told me the truth. You had good reasons for it and I should have been able to see that right away.”

There’s a small smile on Merlin’s lips when he replies, “Wow. Well, I wasn’t expecting that. When did you learn how to apologise for anything?” It takes Arthur a second to realise that Merlin is only teasing.

“I believe Gwen strongly recommended giving it a try when we first met.”

“I’ll have to thank her, then,” Merlin says, suddenly more earnest again. “For the record, you behaved like a prat and not showing up to say goodbye really sucked. You don’t do that to someone you might never see again, regardless of whatever else is going on between you and that person.”

“I know, I know. Believe me, I am glad that I got this chance to apologise in the first place.”

Merlin smiles at him properly then. “I guess you’re forgiven. It’s a bit stupid to hold grudges when we could all be dead tomorrow, don’t you think?”

“I let go of all the grudges I held against you a while ago, actually.” It surprised Arthur but one day he realised that he wasn’t bitter about losing Merlin as a friend ten years ago anymore, that he only regretted not seizing the chance to be his friend again.

“That’s good. We’re good.” Merlin nudges his elbow then and Arthur think that this time, he’s not going to waste the opportunity.

 

 

**July - CAMELOT Base, McGrath Area, Alaska**

Merlin hopes dearly that whoever the team has put on watch today will not just shoot him without asking questions first. He had no way of letting them know that he would be getting back this time and he was gone for so long that they probably think he’s dead. The truth is, he is only still alive because he got lucky and because Aithusa risked her own safety to find someone that could treat his wounds. Hidden away in a cave for a week full of feverish dreams, it took him over a month to fully recover. He nearly lost his chance to save the third dragon egg, too, and he is glad for Ibial’s solid weight on his left shoulder now.

It’s too dark in the woods surrounding the cabins to see much but Merlin makes a point of causing as much noise as possible. It’s a bit risky since he’s assuming that the team didn’t change the position of the various traps that offer additional protection to their HQ.

“Stop!” Someone says suddenly. Merlin is fairly certain that it’s Lancelot’s voice but he spoke too quietly to be sure. Merlin stops moving immediately – no point in getting shot now.

“What are you doing here?” The man asks again and this time Merlin is sure that it’s Lance.

“Returning home. I know it’s been a while but I’m sure you’d still recognize me if I turn around. Just please don’t shoot me, that would suck.”

“Merlin? Oh, thank god.” Merlin turns around and a second later, Lancelot is hugging him so hard that Ibial is unceremoniously pushed aside and he can’t really breathe anymore. Thankfully, the dragon makes a very unpleased noise at that and Lancelot lets go in surprise.

“You’ve found another one,” he says, voice full of wonder. Merlin crouches down to pick Ibial up again. The little dragon opens his mouth as if wanting to spit fire at Lancelot but there’s only a stream of warm air. Merlin laughs and pats his head. “Still too young for that, little one,” he says.

“Merlin…you’ve been gone for over eigth months and we didn’t hear a single thing from you. Honestly, I think except for Arthur, we all gave up hope of ever seeing you again.”

“I am so sorry, Lance. I would have gotten in touch with you if I could have but it just never worked out,” Merlin says and sighs. “How is everyone?” He hasn’t dared to think about it much once he got closer to home because there is no knowing what might have happened while he was gone, if they’ve lost someone before he ever saw them again.

“We’re all okay, they’ll be thrilled to see you. But there’s something you should know. We only received the news a few days ago and Arthur is…well, he isn’t coping well, even though I’m surprised he’s coping with it at all.”

Dread fills Merlin’s stomach at that and he has to remind himself that Lancelot said the team was alright. There isn’t much that could affect Arthur in such a way and Merlin guesses the reason half a second before Lancelot says it out loud.

“Uther is dead. They thought his unit’s HQ was compromised and they were attacked while they were on the move to a new location. There were only two survivors.”

“Shit.” Merlin isn’t sure how Arthur’s relationship to his father developed over the years but considering that Morgana refused to speak to Uther even after the invasion cost millions of people their lives, it’s probably safe to assume that it’s much more complicated than it was to begin with. Merlin himself held no love for Uther Pendragon but it doesn’t surprise him that Arthur is handling this badly.

“How is he?”

Lancelot just shakes his head. “I’ve never seen him like this. He hasn’t spoken more than two words to anyone since it happened, spends most of his time in his room. He’d probably lock himself in if he had the keys. Gwen tried to talk to him and he just ignored her until she went away. I don’t think he’s eating properly, either. It’s just not what any of us expected would happen. Leon’s taken over command for now.”

“Okay. Let the others know that I am here and that I’m fine but that I need to speak to Arthur privately before I see them.”

“Will do. You’re not far from the cabins now, so I’ll just keep my post, even if I’m apparently doing a shit job if you got this close before I noticed.”

Merlin claps him on the shoulder once. “Just don’t let any of the bad guys get past you, mate.”

“Right. It’s good to have you back, Merlin,” he says as Merlin sets back into motion, wanting to cross though the last stretch of forest fast. He nods. “It’s good to be back, too.”

He calls for Aithusa and Nerrou to join his side while he makes his way through the trees until the cabins come into view. There’s no one outside but the lights are on in one of the cabins. It’s not the one Arthur’s room is in. Merlin assumes that the others are either avoiding him or giving him space, quite possibly both.

He asks the two older dragons to wait for him outside and watch over Ibial before he enters the dark building and silently makes his way upstairs. He can see that the lights are on in Arthur’s room through the cracks between door and frame but when he knocks, there’s no answer. Merlin ignores the silence and just opens the door, which creaks slightly in its hinges.

The room is as tidy as Merlin remembers it, the bed made, no clothes lying around. Arthur’s shoes are all in order next to the door, his CAMELOT uniform impeccable on a hook outside the wardrobe, a few books stacked neatly on the bedside table. The small lamp next to them gives off a soft, warm glow.

Arthur’s standing at the window, staring at the darkness outside with his back to Merlin. He hasn’t moved, although he must have heard the door opening. He’s wearing his favourite red sweatpants and a black hoodie, his feet bare.

“What is it?” He asks after a moment, his voice low and rough from not being used, without turning around.

“Arthur.” Merlin doesn’t know what else to say just then but he takes a few steps forward to get closer to Arthur, who makes a startled sound and spins around. He stares at Merlin with wide eyes as if he can’t quite believe that it’s really him. Then, the tension goes out of his shoulders and he mumbles, “Thank fuck.” He drops his head and runs his hands over his eyes. Merlin feels incredibly guilty for having put so much extra weight on his shoulders. They all must’ve been worried sick for so long.

He’s also out of his depth here, so when Arthur looks back up, he says, “I’m pretty sure I reek but you look like you could use a hug.” He doesn’t really wait for Arthur to respond before he crosses the distance and wraps his arms around him. Arthur drops his head to Merlin’s shoulder and just lets himself be embraced but he holds Merlin in place when he’s starting to let go. When Merlin realises that, he tightens his hold and doesn’t try to let go again.

“I am so sorry about your father,” he says quietly after a few minutes have passed. Arthur finally pulls away at that and nods curtly, closing up again before Merlin can wedge in any more than that.

“How are you, Merlin? You were gone for a long time,” Arthur remarks and walks past him to sit down on the bed.

“I know and I’m sorry for that, too. I was injured and that slowed me down for a good while. Don’t worry, I’m fine now,” he says because he doesn’t want to see more worries in Arthur’s eyes. He doesn’t need to know how bad it got right this instant and Merlin really is fine.

“I’ve found another dragon. It was hidden away deep within the African rainforest and the _Zha´threka_ nearly got to it before I found it but it’s hatched and safe now.”

“Good,” Arthur says. “Is it another female?” Merlin knows that Arthur is fond of the dragons, even if he doesn’t admit it outright and there’s the shadow of a smile on his lips but it fades far too quickly.

“No, a male this time. I have named him Ibial. You should come outside and meet him.” Merlin’s heart aches for Arthur when he shakes his head at that.

“Not tonight. You should go and see the others. Get some rest. I want Lance to do a full check-up on you first thing in the morning. How long are you going to stay?”

Merlin sighs. “I don’t know. A week maybe but I have some new information on where the Australian egg might be and I need to get there as soon as I can.”

“I understand,” Arthur says because there’s nothing else to say when it comes to this matter. They both know they’d prefer it if Merlin could stay with the team but that is not an option until all the dragon eggs are safe from discovery. “We’ll discuss the rest another time. Go let the others know that you’re back.”

Merlin doesn’t want to leave Arthur behind but he doesn’t want to fight with him tonight and it seems like Arthur isn’t too keen on that, either, so Merlin lets him be and ventures back outside. When he goes to seek the dragons, he only finds Nerrou and Ibial, huddled close together, asleep. Aithusa isn’t anywhere to be seen but when he looks up, he sees that the window to Arthur’s room is wide open.

When he knocks on the door of the other cabin and opens it, everyone looks at him like they didn’t believe Lancelot when he told them that Merlin was alive and well. Morgana is the first to get it together and she quickly pulls Merlin through the door and into a firm hug before he can get a proper look at the worry etched on her face. She feels thinner than he remembers her being eight months ago but that applies to him as well.

“Don’t ever do this to us again, okay? Jesus,” she says and squeezes him one last time before making room for Mithian, who hugs him first, presses a kiss to his cheek and then hits him on the arm so hard that it’ll bruise.

“Ouch!” Merlin says and holds up his hands before Elena can advance on him as well. “Guys. You know I didn’t do this on purpose, right? If I’d had a way of getting in touch, I would have used it.” He doesn’t fancy getting hit by anybody else and Elena did look suspiciously like she was going to do just that. Now, though, she just hugs him, a little too tightly for his liking but refrains from afflicting more bodily harm on him.

Percival ruffles Merlin’s hair before he takes Elena’s hand and slowly pulls her back to the couch, Gwaine almost breaks one of his ribs and Leon shakes his hand before shaking his head and hugging him, too. Gwen isn’t around and Merlin assumes that she’s also on watch and that he’ll see her in the morning. There’s another familiar face, though, and it’s a little weird to call Elyan by his real name when he’d gotten to know him under his alias but it’s still excellent to see him alive and well.

As he sits down on the couch, firmly lodged between Gwaine and Mithian, Merlin is overwhelmed by how much he missed them, every single one of them, for the past eight months. He never allowed himself to think about them, to worry about their wellbeing and to acknowledge how lonely he was sometimes, even with the dragons for company. It’s astonishing how they have all found their way into his heart, despite the fact that he has barely spent more than a couple of weeks in Alaska altogether, since the _Zha´threka_ attacked and started to occupy Earth. They are a group of remarkable people and Merlin finds that he doesn’t mind answering their questions now, even though he is terribly tired. It feels good to be with them again and he’s not ready to give up on that newfound feeling in favour of retreating to the quiet of one of the bedrooms just yet.

He only wishes that Arthur were with them, too. 

 

* * *

Merlin mostly spends the following days recovering. His last trip has taken its toll and he hopes that Elena will be able to get a connection to Will up and running because Merlin really doesn’t fancy swimming to Australia. Lancelot just sighed when he examined Merlin’s physical health and told him to take it easy while he was here and to make sure that he got enough to eat. Almost every single one of their meals consists of fish these days and Merlin was never a huge fan of that. Still, he hasn’t gone hungry since he arrived and that’s the important bit.

He has had lengthy conversations with Morgana and Gwen about the vague plan they have to take a decisive blow against their enemy. It’s based on the assumption that all _Zha´threka_ technology – their ships, weapons, communication – is dependent on a functioning mothership. There’s no hard evidence to back this assumption up and without knowing that an attack on the mothership could very well render the aliens defenceless, it’s not a risk they’re going to take.

He also walked in on Elena snogging Gwaine’s face off because neither of them could be bothered to yell no when he knocked on the door because he wanted to ask Elena to cut his hair. It’s grown out so much that it constantly falls into his eyes and gets in the way and Elena promised that she would get to that as soon as she was done with Gwaine. He was fairly surprised when he saw Gwaine giving Percival a blowjob behind one of the cabins after Nerrou called him to say that something strange was going on there and he went to check what it was.

When he asks Morgana about it, she mumbles something about wicked threesomes in a tone that makes Merlin think she envies Elena and wonder if Morgana and Leon are currently an item or not. He also realises that the team has apparently forgotten that such things as privacy used to exist.

He talks to Elyan and learns that Gwen and Lancelot showed up unannounced at his camp and that Gwen persuaded him to come back to CAMELOT after they relocated the kids to one of the rebellion camps. He plays chess with Mithian, who brought an old and battered set with her from her latest mission and wants to learn. He looks at the new, angry scars on Leon’s back and listens to how he got them and realises that Leon is doing his best to keep the rebellion from falling apart now that Uther is dead but that it really is Arthur who should be doing this job.

Arthur, however, still hasn’t left his room for anything other than a trip to the bathroom and after failing a couple of times, Merlin stopped trying to coax him out. Instead, he spends his evenings sitting at the foot of Arthur’s bed, telling him about the places he’s seen and the people he met, about the dangers he’s faced and the terrible things he’s witnessed.

Arthur mostly listens and only speaks on occasion to ask for clarification or further details. When Merlin is done telling his story, he waits, sometimes for an hour, to see if Arthur has anything to say at all but he never does and Merlin knows that pushing him would be useless.

 

* * *

Elena manages to contact Will and they agree on a time and location for Merlin’s pick up. The night he has to leave, Merlin knocks on Arthur’s door and lets himself in. Arthur is sitting on his bed, reading a book but he closes it as soon as he sees Merlin and puts it aside.

“Hi,” he says expectantly, waiting for Merlin to sit down like he usually does but Merlin’s not in the mood to tell Arthur another story. He is tired of it and he hasn’t been in a good mood lately. He hates that he has to leave again, wishes he could just let someone else do the job for once so he can stay behind and make sure his friends are okay, to make sure that Arthur is okay. He hates that he’ll have to leave him behind when he is just a ghost of the man he used to be. He wishes there was a way to let Arthur take the time he needs to grieve but they don’t have that kind of luxury at the moment.

“I’m leaving tonight, you know. Are you going to come out of this room at some point, or should I just say goodbye now?” Merlin asks. He told Arthur he was leaving days ago.

“Excuse me?” Arthur clearly wasn’t expecting this sudden hostility from Merlin, who realises now that he must’ve sounded pretty pissed off. He sighs and reminds himself to take it down a notch.

“Maybe it’s not my place to say this but seeing as I’m the only one who you’ll listen to, I kind of have to. It’s fine with me if you don’t want to talk about your father. I haven’t tried to make you and I’m not going to start now. But Arthur, the team needs you out there, okay? Leon has been doing his best but he’s out of his depth. You’re their leader and while they can function without you, they’d be so much better if they weren’t constantly worried about you. I can see that it hurts Gwen how you’re shutting her out because she wants nothing more than to help you get through this. And I really think she could help, they all could. I know that you’re hurting but it won’t get better if you stay locked up in this room and shut the people who love you out.”

Merlin waits for a response, surprised that Arthur hasn’t interrupted him before now but it seems that Arthur has no intention of saying anything. He just looks at Merlin with tired eyes and it’s so incredibly frustrating to see Arthur this way that Merlin thinks he should just give up and let time do its job.

“I’ll see you when I get back, Arthur,” he says and turns around to leave the room. He hears the bed creak behind him, like Arthur is standing up from it.

“I don’t even know why I care. I mean, have you seen Morgana? It’s like it doesn’t affect her at all and she’s right, too. He was a shit parent, never around, always distant. He lied to us and he messed up both our lives simply because he was scared I’d end up anything but straight. He wasn’t even a good person, you know? God knows how many people he screwed over in his lifetime - I’ve seen him do it countless times when he was still head of CAMELOT. He doesn’t deserve anyone mourning his death and yet here I am, trying to remember the handful of times he wasn’t completely terrible as a father, trying to convince myself that I wasn’t just one big fucking disappointment to him.”

Arthur’s voice sounds like he is honestly irritated with himself for being affected by his father’s death and when Merlin turns around he can see tears glittering in Arthur’s eyes that he rubs away angrily. It breaks Merlin’s heart that Arthur never had the chance to experience what having a loving family feels like. He knew that it was tough on Arthur when they were younger, even if he always tried his best to hide it. It doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Arthur has never really let go of any of it. Merlin isn’t sure that anything he’ll say will make it better but he can try, at least.

“I’m not so sure that he moved your family because of your sexual orientation, actually. He always knew about me and my father – that we’re aliens. My father only told me after you were gone but that was one of the reasons why I decided to let go of you then. I always thought that Uther wanted to keep you safe from me, from all…all of this, really. I have no idea why you even ended up working for CAMELOT in the first place because I could’ve sworn that it wasn’t what your father wanted for you or Morgana. I also don’t know what happened between her and your father but I do know that she has been talking to Aithusa much like you were the night we got back. Don’t look at me like that, she didn’t tell me anything. I have made it a habit to always know where my dragons are.”

Arthur doesn’t seem very angry anymore but he does look miserable and that wasn’t what Merlin was trying to achieve at all.

“Look, I’m not saying that he was a good father. I knew you too well to ever even think that. But I do believe that he loved you and that he tried to do what he thought was best for you and Morgana. He may have been wrong about what actually was best for you plenty of times but I don’t think he did it to make your lives worse. And regardless of the terrible things he did, I also know that he could have made my father’s life a nightmare but he didn’t. He never gave us up to the authorities even though that was his job and he never caused us any trouble. He may not have been a great person but that counts for something in my book.”

“Morgana hated him. She has hated him ever since he sent Morgause on a mission that was doomed right from the start. She was the one who recruited us – it must have been against his wishes. God, that makes an awful lot of sense. Morgana and Morgause were close, closer than she and I ever were and when Morgause didn’t make it back, Morgana blamed Uther. He lost his job over it too, that’s how big of a fuck-up it was. And now I don’t think it was a fuck-up at all, maybe that was what he wanted-“ Arthur’s hands are clenched into fists and he’s shaking with some kind of newfound rage, like he’s about to explode. Merlin thinks he should have just left because apparently he has dug up some bad memories here but it’s too late now.

So instead, he gets closer to Arthur and gently takes his hands to ground him. He forces Arthur to look at him and makes the specks of gold in his eyes glow for a second to make sure he’s got Arthur’s attention.

“He was still your father, Arthur. You can be sad that he’s gone and you can be angry at him for all that he’s done. You can hate him too, if that’s what you feel like doing. The only thing that you can’t do, that I will not let you do, is let this loss govern your life and keep you from being the brilliant man that I know you are.” He squeezes Arthur’s hand, which at least has stopped shaking. “Do you hear me? You are so much more than he ever was and you can’t let that go to waste.”

Arthur lets out a shaky breath and drops his head to lean it against Merlin’s shoulder. Merlin’s arms find their way around his shoulders without much thought.

“When did you become so insightful, anyways?” Arthur asks after a few minutes of silence. He lifts his head again and if his eyes are a little red and the fabric of Merlin’s shirt feels slightly damp against his skin, Merlin isn’t going to point that out.

Merlin shrugs and gives him a grin. “Been spending too much time around dragons, I suppose.”

“That might be it, yeah. It’s about time you assembled them all so you can live in the company of human beings again. We can’t have you becoming too wise now, can we?” He sounds a lot more like his old self again and for once Merlin doesn’t think he minds very much that he is being made fun of, if that’s what it takes.

“Ugh, that would be terrible. But I suppose I need to be on my way if I want to catch my ride.”

That sobers Arthur up quickly enough and Merlin finds that the only thing he wants to do right now is stay where he is, just so he can be sure that someone is making Arthur smile every once in a while. He wishes that were an option.

“Right,” Arthur says and nods. “I’ll give you a head start and see you outside in a minute?”

“Sounds good to me,” Merlin replies.

He’s just reached the door when Arthur says, “Thank you, Merlin.”

 

 

**December - CAMELOT Base, McGrath Area, Alaska**

Arthur wishes they still had a functioning camera so he could capture the look of complete joy on Gwen’s face as Lancelot presses a soft kiss to her knuckles, right where her new wedding band sits. In fact, he hasn’t seen any of his friends as happy and relaxed as they are tonight in a very long time.

The wedding was a more or less spontaneous idea. The most important bit was that they were all there and when Merlin returned from Australia a few days ago, Gwen and Lance decided that they’d either get married now or never. Gwen looks absolutely beautiful even though she isn’t wearing the beautiful dress Arthur helped her pick out in what seems like a lifetime ago. The rings aren’t the perfect set Lancelot had made by a goldsmith months before he’d even proposed. Elena definitely wasn’t certified to perform a marriage but she was meant to do it ever since the original wedding date was set.

The room is a little crowded with all of them there. Nerrou and Ibial are on watch tonight and Arthur suspects that they’re much safer from any surprises than if Gwaine and Percival were on duty, thanks to the much finer senses of dragons. Gwaine, Percival, Elena and Mithian are currently engaged in a very lively game of charades which Elyan is monitoring carefully because Gwaine especially cannot be trusted. Gwen and Lancelot are sort of immersed in their very own bubble of happiness and looking at Morgana and Leon one might almost think they’d gotten married today, too. They’ve been going steady ever since Leon was injured. It seems like that was what Morgana needed to get over her doubts and fears.

A now familiar weight settles on his left shoulder as a small dragon lands there. His scales are the colour of red sand, with lots of flecks in deeper shades of red and brown. He’s only slightly bigger than Aithusa was when she hatched and Merlin feared that he might not survive because he was weak and got very sick after he hatched. They suspect that the egg was exposed to some kind of toxic material at some point but in the end the little dragon pulled through.

“ _Rhaá Tha´kan_ ,” Arthur greets him. The words don’t roll off his tongue easily yet, still too unfamiliar and strange.

For reasons that Arthur doesn’t really understand, Tha´kan has taken an instant liking to him and loves to spend most of his time perched on Arthur’s shoulder or flying around in his room. Merlin hasn’t exactly been able to explain it either but Arthur finds that he doesn’t mind it very much. However, since Tha´kan mostly speaks his own language and Arthur would like to understand what the dragon is saying, he asked Merlin to teach him some of it. It hasn’t been going well or fast, mostly because the language seems to follow no clear order and also because Merlin hasn’t been a very patient teacher.

For now, Tha´kan doesn’t say anything but blows a steam of warm air against Arthur’s earlobe. It tickles a little and makes Arthur smile. His gaze falls towards Merlin, who is curled up on the large armchair they moved to the fireplace. Aithusa is settled in front of it, her head resting on the armrest. They both have their eyes closed but Arthur is sure they’re not actually asleep.

Merlin’s default setting has been exhausted for such a long time that Arthur is starting to worry about him. Usually, it takes him a few days with the team to regenerate but he has been with them for two weeks already and he still seems too tired, too thin, too worried. They have no idea where the last dragon egg might be but Merlin decided that it’s time for him to leave. He’ll set off in a few days, cross over to Russia and then search the entire Asian continent for as long as it takes to find fifth dragon.

Arthur tried to convince him to stay for a little longer because Merlin needs more rest but also due to purely selfish reasons. He misses Merlin when he isn’t with them. He hates not knowing where he is, well aware that they might never see each other again because in the world they live in now, they could all be dead before long. Sometimes, they don’t hear from him for months or not at all and it’s tough on all of them. When Merlin said that he was already worried sick he might be too late for the last dragon, Arthur stopped trying, though.

In spite of all that, Merlin seems almost content tonight and Arthur can’t look away from the sight. Merlin opens his eyes right then, catches Arthur’s smile and returns it with such fondness that it makes Arthur a bit dizzy.

Maybe it’s just as well that he doesn’t have a camera. He’ll just have to commit it to memory instead.

 

* * *

Three days later, there is a knock on Arthur’s door. He knows that it’s Merlin before he even calls for him to enter but he wasn’t expecting Tha´kan to come soaring through the door and crash into his chest at a considerable speed. It doesn’t really hurt but he has to catch the little dragon before he falls to the floor.

“What’s gotten you so excited, hm?” It only takes the dragon a few seconds to find his orientation again and to take his favourite spot on Arthur’s shoulder. He is talking very fast and excitedly which makes it impossible for Arthur to even understand the words he possibly does know.

Merlin just shakes his head smilingly and closes the door before he says something to Tha´kan in the dragon tongue that makes him fall silent.

“Sorry about that,” Merlin says, “I wanted to leave him downstairs and come talk to you first but he was having none of that.”

Arthur looks at him questioningly while Tha´kan keeps shifting around on his shoulder, clearly annoyed that he is not allowed to chatter away anymore. “Talk to me about what?”

“I’m leaving today. I didn’t say anything before because I didn’t want it looming over all our heads but there’s no use in wasting any more time. Hush, Arthur,” Merlin says before Arthur can open his mouth to protest, to demand that he’ll stay, that he gets at least some time to prepare for this.

“We’ve talked about it. It’s not like I want to leave but you know that I have to. But this little bundle of energy is still only tiny and I have no idea how long this journey will take. We have hardly any allies in Asia and very little knowledge of what is going on there, generally. I would feel much better if I could leave Tha´kan here with you.”

Arthur can’t quite believe what Merlin is saying. He would never, in a thousand years, have thought that Merlin would leave one of the dragons behind. They’re always around him and if they’re not, he knows where they are. There is a deep bond between them that is there for everyone to see and it astonishes Arthur that he would willingly be separated from one of them.

“Are you sure?” He asks and gently but firmly nudges Tha´kan off his shoulder. He’s much too jittery to stay up there and not tear holes into Arthur’s shirt.

“Of course I’m sure. He’ll be safe here. You can teach him English, I’d have done that sooner or later, anyway. And he’ll know if, well. If I die, he will know, so at least you don’t need to worry about that anymore.”

The thought of Merlin dying fills Arthur with so much dread that he momentarily forgets he’s in the middle of a conversation. He doesn’t want to imagine it but he’s dreamt about it so many times that the images aren’t far.

“He is really excited, too, as you can probably tell. I know I should have come to you first but I didn’t think that it would be a problem. If it is, I’m sorry and you don’t have to worry about it, I’ll just take him with me-“

Merlin’s disappointed tone is enough to snap Arthur out of it and he interrupts quickly.

“No, that’s not it at all. Of course he’ll stay here if that’s what you think is best. As if I’d say no if it’ll help you, Merlin, seriously. I’m just, well. I guess I’m surprised that you would trust me with one of your dragons, that’s all.”

Now, Merlin looks at him with that fond expression again but also like he thinks Arthur may be a bit daft.

“You are serious, aren’t you? Honestly, I don’t think there’s anyone else who I could trust with this. I know that you’ll keep him safe and he adores you, in case you hadn’t noticed.” Merlin hesitates for a second before he adds, “You trust me, don’t you?”

Arthur honestly hasn’t thought about it much. When all of this began, he didn’t have much of a choice. In fact, as much as he didn’t trust Merlin, he just had to believe that Merlin was trustworthy, despite their history. They’ve come a long way since then, though. Arthur realises he’s been truly trusting Merlin for much of that way.

“I do. Of course I-“

Arthur doesn’t get to finish his sentence because Merlin is suddenly there, incredibly close and his lips are on Arthur’s like the faintest touch, waiting for him to realise what is happening and in that moment, a few things slot exactly into place in Arthur’s mind.

He pushes Merlin back, immediately following suit, until he is pressed against the wall and Arthur can press his lips against Merlin’s properly. Merlin makes a little surprised sound, which is all they need for their tongues to meet. It takes them a moment to get the angle right, teeth clacking together, noses nudging together awkwardly but when they do, it’s ridiculously perfect and Arthur thinks that they should have been doing this a decade ago but it doesn’t matter because they’re doing it now.

When they break apart, Arthur keeps his eyes shut and just listens to their ragged breathing, pulse hammering in his ears. Merlin frames his face with his hands and strokes across his cheek with his thumb. He whispers, “Arthur,” and presses another soft kiss to his lips. “Arthur, Arthur. I am such an idiot, don’t you remember that? You should have stopped me. How am I going to leave you now?”

Arthur sighs because of course Merlin still needs to go.

“Arthur, look at me,” Merlin mumbles, his long, slender fingers softly rubbing a spot behind Arthur’s ear but he shakes his head slightly.

“If I look at you now, I won’t be able to let you go.” He steals another kiss from him before he speaks. “Don’t say goodbye. Just come back. I’ll still be here, I promise.”

He can feel Merlin smiling against his lips. “Okay then, I will. Don’t you dare go anywhere, Arthur Pendragon.”

Merlin lets go of him then and slips away and the lack of his body pressed against Arthur’s makes him feel strangely bereft. He only opens his eyes when he hears the door clicking shut again and walks to his bed on slightly wobbly legs.

“Fuck,” he says into the silence. All he wants to do is get up and run after Merlin and go with him but he can’t be that selfish and he can’t make it harder because it’s already going to suck so very much.

Tha´kan, probably disconcerted by the chaotic mixture of emotions running through Arthur, slowly crawls into his lap and rubs his head against Arthur’s knee. “ _Hak’to Merlin?_ ” he chirps.

Arthur closes his eyes again to remember what kissing Merlin felt like and says, “Yeah, I’m going to miss him, too.”

 

 

**August – Himalayas, Nepal**

Merlin’s breath forms tiny clouds in the cold air as he leaves the deserted mountain village behind, where only minimal signs of destruction hint at the horrors that befell even the population of such a remote place.

He does his best to suppress his anger and fear. There could have been no reason for the _Zha´threka_ to attack this entirely unimportant place, only a clutter of small, weather-worn houses, unless they were looking for something and all Merlin can do is hope that they didn’t find it here. The small temple cannot be seen from the village, tucked away behind another edge in the mountains but he can’t know anything for certain until he has hiked up there.

The dragons sense his emotions. Nerrou makes an anguished sound before she sweeps down to be closer to him and her kind. Ibial immediately breaks from Merlin’s side and joins her. Not for the first time, Merlin suspects that they might be siblings. They look very much alike and if it were not for the difference in size, he would probably not know how to tell them apart. Their eggs were almost identical, too; a deep green with specks of white that seemingly formed a pattern.

Aithusa remains close to him, as she always does. It seems like a lifetime ago that she was small enough to perch on his shoulder, constantly huffing warm breaths against his ear that he would welcome now because he lost his beanie a few days ago.

“It was wise to leave Tha´kan at home,” she says now, carefully ruffling his hair with the tip of her wing. “You would think so, obviously. It was you who gave the advice,” Merlin replies but he silently agrees. The young dragon would have been too horrified by the things they’ve seen on their long journey to this place.

“Do you think we will find it here?” Their search has been unfruitful for so many months now that Merlin has the good sense not to get his hopes up.

“I do not know, Merlin. There is a presence here but its traces are muddled. The _Zha´threka_ were here for a long while.”

Merlin clenches his jaw and tries to ban every image of the suffering they caused from his mind. He fails, utterly. The first time he told Arthur and the CAMELOT team about the _Zha´threka_ he was convinced that he already hated them. He couldn’t have been more wrong.

He has seen the ruins of what used to be large cities, small towns and tiny villages, all empty, deserted. He has seen the huge building sites where humans are enslaved and used to build more living space for the aliens.

It’s obvious that the _Zha´threka_ changed their objective for invading Earth very quickly after their arrival. Merlin still thinks that their original motivation was to find the dragon eggs but they must have realised that Earth was far more inhabitable than the planet they took from the Dragonlords. They decided to stay. Sometimes, that is the only thing giving Merlin hope that maybe the fifth dragon egg is still unharmed but he has been searching for so long now that he doesn’t think he’ll ever find it.

He misses home. He misses Cardiff, his parents, Freya and Mordred. He’s not quite sure at which point the CAMELOT team became home for him, too, but he misses them so much it makes his chest ache. Most of all, he misses Arthur.

Merlin knew that kissing him was a terrible mistake. He missed Arthur before but now he is longing for him, longing to hear his voice, to see his stupidly perfect face, to finally be able to kiss him again. The need to push Arthur up against a flat surface and snog him senseless hasn’t diminished one bit since he left him nine months ago.

All he can do is dream about it and hope that Arthur will keep his promise.

It takes Merlin over two hours to hike up the narrow path that leads to the temple where the people of the town once worshipped their gods. All three dragons stay as close to him as they can, occasionally warming the cold air around him with their warm breath. The heat is always gone too quickly and when the wind picks up there isn’t any relief in it at all. Merlin tucks his scarf further up to cover his mouth and the tip of his nose and keeps going. The closer he gets the greater his fear of what they might find becomes.

A few months ago, he received a hint about where the dragon egg could be but the information that it’s hidden within a temple in the Himalayas turned out to be a good deal too imprecise. Merlin watches as Ibial rises higher and gets swept away by a gust of wind, tumbling in the air for a few seconds before he catches his balance again and returns to them.

“ _Tala`ch_ ,” Ibial says. _Soon._ Merlin thanks him in the dragon tongue. Ibial is still young and speaks only a few words of it and Merlin regrets that he hasn’t had more time to teach him properly, relying on Nerrou to do it. He’s afraid that by the time he gets back, Tha´kan, the youngest dragon, will know more words in English than in what is supposed to be his very own language. He never meant for this journey to take him away for so long but it has and there is nothing to be done about it now. It’s not the first time that he was gone for months, either. At least this time, Arthur and the others won’t have to be worried that he is dead. Just like he can feel that every dragon he hatched is alive and well, Tha´kan should be able to feel that Merlin is alive somewhere in the universe.

At last, Merlin can see the small, white temple building nestled against the mountain’s side. Its walls are a brilliant white, seemingly untouched by wind and weather, decorated with golden markings that Merlin cannot make out yet. The roof is a bright and shining red, with little windows let into it, the only way for any light to find its way into the building. Merlin is relieved to see no obvious signs of damage although he wonders how it’s possible that the _Zha´threka_ simply missed it when they raided the village. He quickens his pace, glad that the way is broader now so that he is not in danger of falling. He reckons his chances of surviving that to be very slim.

“Merlin,” Aithusa says, suddenly very close to him, “we have come to the right place.” It only takes a moment longer for Merlin to realise that she is right. He is close enough now to make out the markings on the temple’s side and his heartbeat quickens. What he mistook for symbols unknown to him from the distance are actually words of the dragon tongue, the beginning of an old song his father used to sing to him when he was just a young boy.

If the Dragonlords worshipped gods Merlin would pray to them now, pray that this dragon, too, has remained safely hidden away from the world waiting to be found and awakened on this very day. He is moving as fast as he dares and the younger dragons have picked up on his excitement and are hurrying ahead as well, landing on the temple’s roof with soft thumps before Merlin has reached it, while Aithusa remains by his side.

He is nearly there when the small door let into the wall opens and an old woman steps outside, her eyes the colour of molten gold filled with tears as she gazes upon Aithusa, who finally breaks away from Merlin’s side to land in front of her. She lets her hand rest between Aithusa’s eyes for a moment and Merlin hears her whisper, “ _Thaz ak`ra ravikh ashvar,_ ” the formal greeting used between the dragons and their masters. Aithusa bows her head in reply.

The woman fixes Merlin with her eyes. After a moment, there is nothing but kindness in them and she gives him a smile that exposes a few missing teeth in her mouth and even more wrinkles around her eyes.

“ _Hekha Lan´ra`hyi. Kin´to Evekha_ ,” she says in greeting.

Merlin smiles at her and replies, “ _Kin´to elasin pokha´a, Evekha. Notha´kin Merlin._ ” There’s a spark of surprise in her eyes which are distinctly shaped like those of a reptile.

“You are fluent in the language of dragons,” she remarks, as if she wasn’t quite sure what to expect of him but is satisfied with what she has found. Merlin nods. “My father has taught me well.”

“ _Thaka,"_  she says and continues in the dragon tongue, “my English is a little rusty. You are Balinor’s son, I presume?”

“I am. He doesn’t know that you are still alive but then again I think that is the way you intended it to be.” Merlin is glad that he often speaks to Aithusa in the language used by the Dragonlords before they reached Earth, or else he would be terribly out of practice.

“It is, indeed. I trust that he is in good health and Hunith as well?”

There is a dull ache in Merlin’s chest at the thought of his parents, whom he hasn’t seen since he came to his father inquiring for the whereabouts of the first dragon egg, as it had been Balinor who hid it away in the most northern parts of Scotland. The fact that the CAMELOT team hasn’t been able to establish contact with Freya and Mordred, who were staying with his parents the last time they spoke, has been worrying him during many sleepless, lonely nights.

“I believe they are,” is his reply because he’d rather not admit that he simply doesn’t know whether his parents are alive or not. He suspects that Evekha can see right through him, regardless, so he quickly changes the topic.

“I do not wish to be impatient but I came here in search of the fifth dragon egg and I trust that you know its whereabouts. That is, if it hasn’t been found by someone else?”

“I can see that you have been waking up dragons. Do not fear, young Dragonlord. The egg has been kept perfectly safe, even though it was done at the cost of many lives.” Her face turns grim for a short moment before she reaches out and takes his hand. Merlin can feel that her fingers are cold even through the fabric of his gloves and he sees that the scales covering the back of her hand have turned black. A soft gasp escapes his lips as he realises that Evekha is dying.

She tucks at his hand to make him follow her towards the temple’s door. “Don’t worry for me, Merlin. I am old, far beyond the age at which I should have died. My purpose in life is almost fulfilled and I am quite happy to leave this world behind. I’d much rather you mourned the people who used to live in the village you must have passed on your way up here. They were the ones who led the _Zha´threka_ astray and they paid with everything they had.”

Merlin tightens the hold around her thin, cold fingers for a moment and nods.

They enter the temple together. Merlin doesn’t pay attention to the colourful murals covering every piece of the walls, or the golden decorations on the ceiling. The light from the skylights is falling to the centre of the room, where a pitch black dragon egg rests on a white cushion. It’s larger than any of the other dragon eggs and Merlin can only imagine that the dragon inside will probably be about the same size as Ibial is now.

“A great dragon will hatch from this egg, for it is a descendant of Kilgharrah, who sacrificed his life to save our kind and bring us to this planet. I think it’s time for it to wake up from its long sleep, don’t you agree?” When Merlin looks at her, he finds that Evekha’s eyes are fixed to the shining black surface of the egg, even though she must be so used to seeing it by now. A glance at the room shows clear signs of it being inhabited by someone for a very long time. There is a curtain to the left side which probably hides her sleeping place. This has been her life for decades and Merlin is about to take it all away because there isn’t any other choice than that.

“You should be the one to name it,” Merlin says because if anyone has a right to this, it’s her. He has called upon more dragons than most Dragonlords did in their lifetimes. It’s not something one ever gets used to but he wants her to have this moment.

Evekha looks at him with sad eyes, then. “I am afraid I no longer possess that kind of power, Merlin. The last time I called upon a dragon was so many lifetimes ago, when I was still young and strong. No, I will be content with the knowledge that I have saved Kilgharrah’s heir and to have the privilege of seeing one last dragon born before my own life ends.”

Merlin notices that Ibial and Nerrou have found their way inside, probably guided by the sound of the conversation held in the dragon tongue and are now curled up next to Evekha’s feet. Aithusa has somehow managed to squeeze through the door was well and she gently nudges his shoulder with her head before settling down next to him.

Merlin closes his eyes and tries to clear his mind of the thoughts rushing through it. After a short while he is focused on the task at hand. When he opens his eyes again, he knows that the golden specks in them are glowing brightly, his gaze resting upon the dragon egg in front of him. He takes a deep breath and can feel the name in the beat of his pulse, reverberating through his veins before it leaves his throat.

“ _Alatas._ ”

 

* * *

Evekha advises him that attempting the descent from the temple after nightfall is much too dangerous, so Merlin decides to stay. The small building is warm and cosy from the presence of four dragons and Merlin is thankful for it. He has been sensitive towards the cold ever since he fell asleep outside during the arctic winter in Alaska. It was pure luck that he didn’t freeze to death because Arthur arrived in time.

He has just shared a simple but filling meal with Evekha. He has gotten used to little food and going hungry on his journeys but he always welcomes a proper meal after such a long time. He can’t remember feeling this content in forever but looking at the majestic black dragon that is curled up next to Aithusa with her brilliant white scales fills him with nothing but joy. He has succeeded; all dragons are safe and he can return to the people he loves without having to leave again.

Evekha joins him with two cups of tea and smiles at the sight of Aithusa and Alatas.

“Well, it seems like there will be at least one more generation of dragons in this world,” she remarks as she hands Merlin one of the cups and wraps her fingers around her own. When Merlin looks at her questioningly, she chuckles a little and replies, “Oh, these two were meant for each other, it’s there for everyone to see. They might not have realised it yet themselves but it won’t take long. However, that doesn’t change that fact that eventually, dragons will cease to exist. It is quite inevitable because you are the last Dragonlord and even though your life will last longer than that of any human, one day there won’t be anyone left who could call a dragon to life.”

Merlin takes a careful sip of tea and considers her words. He hasn’t contemplated his future very often and certainly not since the _Zha´threka_ attacked because nobody knows if there will be much of a future left for them now. There are days that Merlin doesn’t even dare to hope they might make it through and he wonders how Evekha can believe in it, when she saw her own people die and her home taken away by the same force of evil.

“Don’t doubt yourself, Merlin. I can see that you are a remarkable young man even though I hardly know you and you have already achieved much in a world that has turned the tides against you. Tell me of the twists and turns that have brought you here and perhaps I will be able to advise you on the path you should take next.”

So he tells her his story and he begins with the day he sat in class next to an empty chair and learned that Arthur was moving to another continent from his history teacher. He tells her how he started working for his uncle Gaius at Section Swordstone and how many good people he saw die on the job before he took over and how many he’s lost since then. He tells her how he found Arthur again, talks about him and the CAMELOT team and the resistance and his search for the dragon eggs, talks for hours and hours while Evekha just listens and occasionally makes them another cup of tea.

At last, Merlin arrives in the present again and says, his voice a little rough from speaking for so long, “The dragons are safe now but this planet isn’t. We’ll have to find a way to get rid of the _Zha´threka_ once and for all, no matter the cost.”

He can feel heaviness in his bones at the thought of what that will most likely entail. He doesn’t want to use his dragons as weapons and he doesn’t want to wage war against an entire species but he doubts that this will play out any differently.

“There may yet be another way to resolve this, Merlin. I am sure that it will present itself to you due time. Now, you should rest and gather your strength. You still have a dangerous journey ahead of you and it will not be easy, no matter the outcome of it all.”

She smiles at him warmly, with eyes that remind Merlin of his father, from whom he learned that questioning the cryptic advice of a Dragonlord only leads to more cryptic answers, so he refrains from asking more questions. Evekha takes the empty cup from his hands before she makes some room for him to lie down. “Now, I don’t recall Balinor to be a great singer and my own voice is not what it used to be but perhaps you know this song.”

Her voice is surprisingly strong for someone her age and a familiar melody fills the room as she sings of the first dragons and their masters. Merlin tries his best to stay awake but when the first song is over Evekha finds a new song about the beauty of Ankh´ra and another telling the tale of Lengar´th, the wisest of dragons, until Merlin slips away into a deep and dreamless sleep.

 

* * *

Merlin doesn’t know how long he slept but he only faintly remembers the last time he was this well-rested – after a short holiday before he took over the reins of Swordstone. Still, he probably would have slept for a few hours more but one of the dragons is repeatedly nudging his side. When Merlin cracks one eye open, he recognizes Alatas and gently puts his hand over the dragons snout to keep him from doing it again.

He is a bit puzzled by the black dragon because he is nothing like any of the others were so shortly after they hatched. He isn’t as curious as Aithusa was, doesn’t seem headstrong like Nerrou still is or playful and childish like Ibial. It’s like he is already calm and wise like Merlin imagines an old dragon to be, if perhaps a little insecure and astonished at the world he was born into. He is also a quick learner and said his first words already, whereas it took the other dragons a few weeks at least to pick up on that.

Judging by the light falling in through the windows, it has to be around midday. Merlin sits up and looks around the room. Nerrou and Ibial are awake but for once they are not bickering or playing, simply resting nestled against one another. There is no sign of Evekha or Aithusa, though, which isn’t necessarily alarming if a little unexpected nevertheless. Aithusa has never left his side without him knowing where she was going before.

“Where is Aithusa?” He asks into the silence and allows Alatas to rest his head in Merlin’s lap. He seems to be craving the proximity to others, if the way he was always staying close to Aithusa last night was any indication. Merlin rests his hand on the back of his neck, feeling the smooth surface of his almost shiny onyx black scales.

“She and Evekha went outside a little while ago,” Nerrou replies and tilts her head towards the small door that is the only way to get in and out of the temple. Her voice is quiet and she sounds unalarmed, so Merlin accepts it. He can feel that Aithusa isn’t too far away and knows that he would hear her call should she need him.

He feels like he could definitely eat something but doesn’t want to go through Evekha’s belongings or diminish her rations any more than he already has, so he stays seated for now and thinks through his options.

He knows that getting a connection up and running to Elena and the team is near impossible at the moment, so he has no way of finding out if they are any closer to finding out how they’ll be able to win their fight against the _Zha´threka_. He’ll have to get back to Alaska for any news from them and part of him wants nothing more than to return to Arthur as quickly as possible.

His other option leaves them separated for longer but will take him back to see his parents, Freya and Mordred, at least if he can rely on his gut feeling that they aren’t dead. There is a nagging feeling of guilt that has been accompanying him for a while now, especially with regards to his team. He was their leader and he’d been forced to let them struggle on their own for much longer than he’d anticipated. He knows that they’re both perfectly able to take care of themselves but he still feels like he let them down. If he travels to Europe instead of Alaska and finds Mordred and Freya, he’ll probably be able to at least talk to Arthur and they’ll come up with a proper plan together.

He’ll ask Aithusa for her opinion once she is back. If there is one thing Merlin has learned, it’s that a dragon’s advice is very rarely wrong. There is a reason why the Dragonlords always let their disputes be settled by a dragon’s ruling.

His stomach grumbles and he wonders where Evekha and Aithusa have gone and how much longer he is going to have to wait for them. He decides that a little fresh air would probably do him some good and also that he should let Alatas see the world outside for the first time. He gently pushes him so he lifts his head and Merlin can stand up and stretch for a little. He suspects that there was something special mixed into all the tea he drank last night because he has no clue how he managed to sleep on the hard floor without waking up at least once.

He walks over to the door and opens it carefully, more light flooding the room, as well as cold, clear air streaming in. Merlin takes a deep breath and steps outside, calling Alatas’ name, hoping that the dragon will follow him.

The sun is shining and reflecting off the snow. Merlin has to shield his eyes from the blinding brightness of it all. He can see two sets of tracks leading away from the temple which have to belong to Evekha and Aithusa. He listens carefully for a moment but doesn’t hear anything to indicate that they are within earshot.

He turns around and sees that Alatas has indeed followed him but is still standing in the doorway, squinting at the bright snow and huffing out warm breaths as if he was trying to make the cold go away with them. Merlin smiles and says his name again and after a few more seconds, he dares to step outside and walk a few steps through the snow until he has reached Merlin’s side. Again, he looks at his surroundings like this isn’t what he expected at all but like it couldn’t ever faze him, regardless.

Just as Merlin considers calling Aithusa, he hears the quiet flapping of wings above him and when he looks up, he can see the white dragon gliding down towards them in wide circles. He immediately turns around to see if Evekha is approaching on the ground, too, but can’t see her anywhere. A few moments later, Aithusa lands a couple of feet away and Merlin immediately picks up on her mood.

Aithusa looks at him with steely blue eyes that are full of grief. He approaches her slowly and crouches down so he is at eye level with her.

“Where is Evekha?” He feels like he already knows the answer but he needs to know what happened and why.

“Her task on this planet was fulfilled and that was the only reason she still had any strength left within her. She asked for the honour to end her life like the Dragonlords of old used to and I granted her that wish. She didn’t want to burden you with having to say goodbye.”

She bows her head then and Merlin sinks to his knees in the snow. He wraps his arms around her to comfort her. Aithusa may have seen death but she never knew what it felt like to lose someone she knew and cared about before now. Apparently, even the wisdom of dragons doesn’t diminish that pain. He knows that it’s no use telling Aithusa what she already knows – that it was Evekha’s time to go and that allowing her to have a self-determined death was the right thing to do.

Alatas joins them and quietly lies down next to Aithusa in the snow. Only a few minutes later, Nerrou and Ibial are drawn towards them and huddle close to them, too.

They remain this way until Merlin can’t feel his knees from the cold anymore. He slowly lets go of Aithusa and leans back a little and almost as if she read his thoughts, she says, “It is time to move on.”

 

 

**October – Section Swordstone Base, France**

Arthur is standing outside and watches the sun set on the horizon where the sky meets the sea. There is a soft chill in the air, blowing in from the water. He wishes he’d brought his jacket with him but he was just getting used to going outside without one again and he’s not quite ready to put it back on. At any rate, he is glad they’re not spending another winter in Alaska.

It was a tough decision to leave their HQ there behind. It offered them a certain amount of safety and had become their home, however weird that sounded. More importantly, Arthur was holding out for as long as they could because he was hoping Merlin would return in time to join them. He’d hated the thought of Merlin coming back after they’d left to find everything abandoned, even if they left him enough clues as to where he’d be able to find them.

However, their plan had been as good as it was ever going to get from the distance and before any further steps could be taken, they needed to get to Europe. They knew that Mordred and Freya were in France, somewhere close to Calais, so that’s where they went.

To everyone’s relief, they heard from Merlin unexpectedly a few weeks later. He’d run into one of the few remaining CAMELOT teams that had been abroad when the invasion started and they had been able to contact Elena. Arthur had been out at the time and missed his chance to speak to Merlin for the first time in over 9 months but he couldn’t be angry about that for too long because Merlin was alive and he was coming home with the last dragon, which meant that this time around, Arthur wouldn’t have to let him go again.

They were waiting for Merlin’s arrival but another day had passed and he still wasn’t back. Arthur is sick and tired of telling himself to be patient, that he will be able to wrap Merlin in his arms soon enough. He has been telling himself the exact same thing for the past 9 months and it stopped working at least 4 months ago. He wants Merlin back now.

Tha´kan lands next to him with a soft thud. He’d probably flown out of one of the upstairs windows and Arthur would have scolded him for it but there really wasn’t much of a risk in it now. He could only assume that the Icà were feeling much too secure after over three years on this planet, during which they hadn’t encountered any truly threatening resistance, especially not in Europe, where their presence had been too overwhelming to even properly form one. They were getting sloppy, obviously not expecting anyone to go against their established rule now.

Once a day, one of their smaller spaceships flies over the tiny village in which Freya and Mordred have found refuge after it was raided and abandoned during the initial stage of the invasion. They know when the patrol comes and as long as they stay inside and are quiet, the space ship just passes on. Either the aliens don’t know that they are here, or they don’t care that a few people are hiding somewhere as long as they’re not causing trouble.

It’s too bad for them that these particular people are planning on causing them a world full of trouble soon. Arthur certainly doesn’t feel sorry about it.

Tha´kan is far too big now to sit on Arthur’s shoulder but he’d taken to curling his tail around Arthur’s ankle, as he does now. Arthur had stopped counting all times that had nearly tripped him over when he forgot about it and started walking but he can’t quite bring himself to ask the dragon to stop doing it. He is probably the only one who understands how much Arthur needs Merlin to return. Arthur hasn’t told anyone on the team about the kiss, even if it had always been on his mind for the first few weeks after Merlin’s departure. Now, he sometimes has trouble even remembering what it felt like and that worries him.

It’s not that he considers it likely that Merlin met someone while he was searching an entire continent for one single dragon egg but perhaps he’s realised now that whatever it was that made him kiss Arthur, it was a onetime thing. Arthur knows he is being ridiculous but that kiss meant something to him and he just has to believe that Merlin felt that way about it, too.

“You worry too much,” Tha´kan says with a bit of amusement in his voice, like he knows something that Arthur doesn’t. They’ve had conversations like this many times before. Arthur has learned by now that dragons are truly gifted when it comes to giving cryptic advice and even more cryptic answers. Arthur, however, also knows his dragon very well and he’s not fooled now.

“Don’t act like you don’t worry about them,” he says because Tha´kan misses the other dragons on top of Merlin, no matter how much he pretends that he doesn’t. That really doesn’t seem like something a dragon should do. Not for the first time Arthur wonders if he’s completely ruined Tha´kan’s character by exposing him to people like Gwaine and his sister.

“Well, we both won’t have to worry for much longer now, Arthur. They’ll be here soon.”

Arthur sighs. He doesn’t know how exactly it works but apparently every dragon has a constant connection to the Dragonlord who named him, like an additional sense or something similar. Every so often, Arthur would wake up from a nightmare in which Merlin had died a horrible death and Tha´kan had been the one to reassure him that Merlin was definitely still alive, even if he couldn’t promise Arthur anything other than that.

He doesn’t ask how soon. He knows he won’t get a proper answer, anyway.

 

* * *

Arthur is a little disoriented when he wakes up in the middle of the night, so it takes him a moment to realise that what woke him up was someone knocking on the door to his room. Another bonus to relocating to France is that they have more space now and everyone has their own room, at least if they want to. Arthur didn’t quite think it through when he said he’d share a house with Elena, Gwaine and Percival but at the time that seemed preferable to sharing one with Morgana and Leon.

He glances at the clock on his nightstand and groans because it’s 3 am and he only fell asleep two hours ago. “What is it?” He asks, rubbing his eyes hoping it’ll help him to keep them open. The door opens just wide enough to allow the person to enter the room, then closes again without a sound. Arthur can’t see who it is in the dim light but before he can reach the switch on the small lamp next to his bed, the figure has crossed the room and long, nimble fingers are wrapped around his wrist to stop him.

“Shh. Don’t.”

For a second, Arthur honestly considers pinching himself just to make sure that he isn’t dreaming. He tries to reach the light switch again but the hand keeps holding him back, the fingers tightening their hold but not so much that it hurts. Not dreaming, then.

“Merlin?”

He wishes his eyes would adjust to the darkness a little more quickly so he can confirm that the voice he heard was actually Merlin’s. It sounded so much like Merlin but he doesn’t understand why Merlin would not want him to turn on the light. “What’s going on?” He asks, a little irritated. Instead of reaching for the switch again, he pushes himself up into a sitting position and reaches out to where he thinks Merlin’s face should be.

His hands collide with parts of a face, his left thumb smashing right into Merlin’s eye. Merlin hisses in pain and draws away quickly. Arthur realises then that Merlin must have had his eyes closed since he entered the room because they’re open now and Arthur takes in a sharp breath because Merlin’s eyes are glowing, bright and golden, in the darkness of the room.

This time, nobody stops him from flicking the lights on and he can finally see Merlin standing in front of his bed, pressing the heel of his hand to one eye while the other looks at Arthur a little uneasily. Merlin’s hair has grown considerably in the time they spent apart, covering his ears completely and he’s wearing a beard. Arthur doesn’t really pay attention to that, though, unable to tear his gaze from the golden glow in Merlin’s uncovered eye, mesmerized by it.

It’s Merlin who breaks it a few seconds later, looking down at his own feet. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he says and he sounds sad. Arthur doesn’t like it. This isn’t how he imagined their reunion to go at all.

He gets out of his bed and steps closer to Merlin, who still has his head down. “Frighten me? And why would I be frightened of you, Merlin? Honestly, you’re not that scary when Aithusa isn’t around to look all bad-ass and threatening.”

He takes another step closer and puts two fingers under Merlin’s chin to gently lift it up again. His right eye is a little red from where Arthur stuck his thumb into it.

“Well, your new eye colour isn’t that scary, either. Looks more like a really neat CGI-trick.” He smiles at Merlin, who still looks like he’s not quite sure that Arthur isn’t going to run away screaming any second now.

“Now, contrary to what you might think, sticking my thumb in your eye wasn’t exactly the first thing I wanted to do to you once you got back, so perhaps we should start over?”

“What was it that you-“ Merlin says but Arthur cuts him off with a kiss, arms wrapping around Merlin’s waist to hold him in place. It takes Merlin a second to catch on. A desperate noise escapes his throat and he is kissing Arthur back and it’s just as good as Arthur remembers, frantic and full of need. Merlin’s beard is a little annoying but right now, Arthur doesn’t care too much, just makes a mental note to make sure Merlin gets a razor soon. He’s walking backwards slowly, drawing Merlin with him until his legs hit the bedframe. He abandons Merlin’s lips for a moment, to mouth kisses along his neck, his hands slipping beneath the thick jumper Merlin is wearing.

Arthur’s lips brush against something that decidedly isn’t skin then and he hesitates for a second, which is all the time Merlin need’s to take a few steps back, out of Arthur’s reach.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry. I should have told you but you just had to go ahead and kiss me and I can’t think when you do that. Shit.”

“Told me what, Merlin? Just – what’s going on?” Arthur is confused, again. This is getting old really fast. Merlin doesn’t say anything but after a moment, he pulls his jumper off over his head and turns around so Arthur can see his back.

Arthur sees what’s going on then and what it was that he felt before Merlin drew back. There are scales running down Merlin’s spine from the side of his neck. They’re mostly of a light colour, blending in with Merlin’s skin but they’re still clearly visible. They’re just like the scales of a dragon.

“I guess you could say that my Dragonlord genes are finally showing,” Merlin says, still facing away from Arthur, who’s taken a few steps forward to get a better look. “My father said that it might happen eventually, if I spent a lot of time in the company of dragons. It started just after I woke up the last one.”

“Okay,” Arthur says because he doesn’t really know what else he is supposed to say to that. He hears Merlin sigh before he starts to put his jumper back on.

“Wait,” Arthur says, putting a hand on Merlin’s arm to stop him. “Can I touch them? It doesn’t hurt, does it?” He’s got no way of knowing but somehow he doesn’t imagine that having scales growing out of your back is very pleasant.

“No. Not anymore, at least. Do you even want to?” Merlin asks in return and Arthur thinks he finally understands what the issue is, here. He sighs inwardly, wishing, not for the first time, that Merlin could have grown up without constantly being afraid of how people would react if they found out he wasn’t completely human. Both their lives could have been so different if only there hadn’t been a necessity to keep it all secret.

Arthur lets his hand run down Merlin’s back once, very lightly, feeling the scales beneath his fingertips before he closes the distance between them to press a kiss to Merlin’s neck, right where the smaller scales are disappearing into his skin.

“Merlin,” he mumbles, “don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’m not!” Merlin protests and Arthur decides that there’s something he should probably make clear.

“Look at me, please,” he says and lets go of Merlin, who turns around very slowly. When he looks at Arthur he seems angry, almost.

“Did you honestly think this would change how I feel about you? Honestly, Merlin – you should know me better than that because I honestly couldn’t care less. I fell in love with you for the first time when you were a gangly, lanky boy and I fell in love with you again in the knowledge that you are a Dragonlord. I guess it’s safe to say that I’d fall in love with you even if you could breathe fire and grow wings, so please. Stop being an idiot.”

He reaches out to brush away a tear that’s threatening to spill out of Merlin’s golden eyes.

“I loved you, back then, you know,” Merlin says.

Arthur closes his eyes and allows himself a moment to wonder how their lives could have been like if it hadn’t been for Balinor, who made it necessary for Merlin lie to everyone he cared about and for Uther, who separated them in the end. They’ll never find out for sure but Arthur likes to think that they’d have been happy.

He opens his eyes again to find Merlin staring at him like he knows exactly what Arthur was just thinking about because he’s thought it through himself, more than once.

“For the record,” Merlin says, “I love you now, too.” He smiles at Arthur without holding back and if anything it makes his eyes shine even brighter. Arthur can’t hold back a grin himself because this right here is everything he’s wanted for the past 9 months, maybe for his entire life.

“Will you come to bed with me then? I think we’ve waited long enough.”

 

* * *

When Arthur wakes up for the second time, it’s still early but at least the sun is already rising outside his window and Merlin’s head his resting on his chest, one arm slung around his waist and it’s the best thing that has happened to Arthur in a very, very long time. He smiles to himself and presses a kiss to Merlin’s forehead just because he can, then lets the hand that was resting at Merlin’s neck wander down his spine, very slowly, trying to commit the texture of the scales there to memory.

It’s a little astonishing but Arthur has seen other aliens on the job and a bit of scaling on the back and golden irises isn’t very extreme. Arthur finds that he doesn’t mind it one bit. If anything, it kind of fits Merlin. Before, his eyes always looked a little odd with random specks of gold in them, like they were only half as beautiful as they should have been. Arthur hates that Merlin thinks anybody will look at him differently now but Arthur also knows that people can be terribly ignorant. He is fairly certain that it doesn’t apply to anyone on his team but just in case he decides that he’ll punch them in the face if they behave like dicks.

He doesn’t realise that he kept stroking Merlin’s spine until Merlin says, “That actually tickles a little,” and moves his head ever so slightly to kiss Arthur’s collarbone. “Good morning,” he mumbles against his skin.

“Good morning,” Arthur echoes. His hand comes to a stop at Merlin’s tailbone. “You should get some more sleep, love. When was the last time you slept in a proper bed, anyways?”

Merlin yawns and shrugs his shoulders. “It’s been a while but that’s okay. Not sure I ever want to sleep in a bed again if it doesn’t have you in it, too.”

“Oh my. I forgot how sappy you get sometimes. I’ll remind you of this the first time you try to get me out of your bed because I’m hogging the covers or snoring too loudly.” Nobody’s complained about his snoring up until now though, so that’s probably not going to be a problem.

“Aw, shut up, you love it. And I’ll never kick you out of bed either, that’s ridiculous; you’re much too good-looking for that, Arthur.” He can feel Merlin’s fingers roaming over his chest like in circles, steadily wandering down.

“Glad you fancy me for all the right reasons.” He sighs a little and catches Merlin’s hand in his own, entwining their fingers. He’d quite happily spend the entire day in bed with him but that’s not really an option.

“The others will be up soon and I’m guessing they don’t know you’re back yet?”

Merlin shakes his head. “No. I snuck in last night but they’ll know once they see Aithusa and the other dragons. I kind of left them in the living room.”

Just then, they can hear someone trashing up the stairs very noisily, followed by Elena calling out, “Arthur! I think Merlin’s back!“ She opens the door and stops in her tracks, looking at them, at the trail of clothing leading to the bed and back at them.

“Oh my God,” she squeals and then proceeds to throw herself on the bed to shove Arthur away and hug Merlin because she knows no boundaries and is kind of used to being in bed with two gorgeous men. “Oh god, I’ve missed you so much. We all have and you should have seen Arthur, he was the grumpiest grump I have ever known and – woah. Um. Holy shit, what is that on your back?”

Merlin looks at Arthur a little desperately, like he’d really appreciate some help because Elena is still hugging him while simultaneously trying to get a proper look at his back. Arthur takes pity on him and pulls Elena off him by the waist.

“Els. Calm down for a minute, you’re going to wake Leon and Morgana and you know how they are about their beauty sleep.” Elena shuts up but Arthur suspects that might be because she’s now realised Merlin’s eyes changed colours and that has rendered her speechless.

“Okay. So Merlin here has had a bit of a transformation because his Dragonlord powers are growing stronger. No big deal, yeah?” He nudges her side a little because she doesn’t react right away but keeps staring at Merlin.

“No big deal? Arthur, have you seen his eyes? They’re gorgeous!” Arthur sees Merlin blush and it’s possibly the most adorable thing in the world. He used to blush about everything when they were younger because he was embarrassed so very easily. Arthur remembers because he was the reason for Merlin’s embarrassment more than once.

“Hush. You can go stare into Gwaine’s eyes for all I care. Or Percy’s. Don’t be so greedy, this one’s mine,” Arthur says and it comes out a lot more possessively than he intended it to be and if anything it makes Merlin blush even deeper.

“Oh, so that’s how it is now, isn’t it?” Elena narrows her eyes. “Good for you. I mean, we all knew it would happen eventually but you really took your time. Can I ask when this started?”

“None of your business. Why would you want to know - oh. You have a bet running with Morgana, don’t you?” Arthur gives Elena a shove that makes her slip from the bed but she is laughing her ass of so she probably didn’t hurt herself. Meanwhile, Merlin just groans and buries his head in the pillows and Arthur can understand the sentiment.

“You’re unbelievable, honestly. You’re the worst. Go and get out of here and wake up the others. We’re having a meeting in an hour,” Arthur says. He fails at making it sound very authoritative because he’s grinning himself. Elena sticks her tongue out at him, gets up and leaves the room but not before informing Merlin that she can see his bum.

 

* * *

Arthur is actually glad that he didn’t have to share Merlin with anyone upon his arrival because since everyone else found out they’ve hardly had more than five minutes alone. That’s very problematic, seeing as they are both absolutely terrible at keeping their hands to themselves but Arthur understands that everyone wants to catch up with Merlin, especially Freya and Mordred, who haven’t seen him in over two years and had to get along on their own. It has certainly made them very close but Arthur has been wondering about the exact nature of their relationship since they joined forces and still isn’t sure whether they’re a couple or not.

There’s much less confusion about his and Merlin’s relationship status. Elena definitely felt the need to spread the word and he’s heard every variation of ‘Took you long enough’ that he can think of. Morgana has been incredibly annoying. Arthur thinks she was sincere when she said she was happy for them but her incessant nagging about when exactly they started dating is driving him nuts. He suspects that’s part of the reason she’s doing it but he’s not going to tell her a single thing if she keeps it up.

“You’ll have to tell her eventually,” Merlin says. He’s been entirely too amused by it all because for some reason Morgana isn’t bothering him about it at all. Arthur just groans and continues to kiss the side of Merlin’s throat, reminding himself not to give him a love bite, which would just give the others another thing to tease them about.

They’re hiding in the garage, which has been transformed into Morgana’s and Freya’s lab and is blissfully unoccupied at the moment. He’s got Merlin’s back pressed against the wall and really doesn’t want to think about his sister and her stupid bet but now it’s there at the back of his mind and he sighs, draws away slowly to look at Merlin.

“I guess I’m not even sure what the correct answer would be,” he admits. He’s known that he wants to be with Merlin since he kissed him in Alaska but a lot of time has passed since then and he doesn’t know if Merlin feels that way, too.

“Oh,” Merlin says and bites down on the left corner of his bottom lip, looking away from Arthur who wishes he hadn’t said that because this is starting to feel slightly awkward until Merlin meets his eyes again and shrugs. “Why don’t we go with last December?” He just leaves that question there like he dares Arthur to disagree with him but Arthur just kisses him thoroughly and then gives him the love bite anyway.

Things get a little more heated after that, until Morgana shows up and proceeds to be a cockblocking harpy. “Boys, honestly? Why am I not surprised that being surrounded by explosives is a turn on for you?”

Much to Arthur’s dismay, that is enough to catch Merlin’s attention. He grins at Arthur apologetically but gently pushes him aside anyway and joins Morgana at her worktable.

“What kind of explosives are we talking about here?” He eyes the fairly harmless looking titanium cube that is currently resting on top of it. Arthur sighs. He had intended to give Merlin an update on their plan during the team meeting but in the end decided against it, not wanting to spoil everyone’s moment of happiness with discussions of how they were hopefully going to win this war.

“Meteoric dynamite,” Freya answers before Morgana or Arthur can. She’s leaning in the doorway leading back into the house but steps down a few steps into the garage to join them.

“You know Mordred and I held onto it but we were finally able to figure out a way to actually use it, too. Morgana came up with the idea, actually, and it’s quite brilliant.” She puts on a pair of fire-proximity gloves and picks up the cube. It’s only a little larger than a Rubik’s Cube, its surface shiny and smooth. Arthur knows that it’s too hot to touch with bare hands unless you want burns but fairly light and easy to handle. It’s also a deadly weapon and it has been giving him headaches that Freya and Morgana have been manufacturing the bombs here, where they could easily blow them all up if something goes wrong. They don’t really have much of a choice, though. With some luck, this will be the last one they’ll have to build, too. If everything works out according to plan, they should be able to defeat the Icà within a short amount of time.

“How does this work, then?” Merlin asks, expectantly. Arthur has spent a lot of time asking himself whether Merlin would approve of this and he supposes he’s about to find out. It’s astonishing how much he just wants to go back to snogging him instead.

“Like any other bomb, basically - an explosive charge, a detonator and a striker. However, our explosive is more powerful than any other explosive known to man and it’ll be kindled by dragonfire, which according to our own expert on the matter, can destroy anything. Finding a shell to contain both was tricky but I did some testing and as it turns out, a metal forged in a dragon’s breath can withstand anything – even dragonfire. The dynamite and the dragonfire are separated inside the cube but as soon as we hit a button…”

There’s a satisfied smile on Morgana’s face that’s a little scary. Arthur sometimes forgets how nearly losing Leon changed her into someone who’s prepared to do whatever it takes to get rid of the Icà. She reminds him a lot of Uther when she’s like this, something which he’s never told her and probably never will. He shoves the thought away and focuses on Merlin instead, who has become very still and contemplative. He doesn’t look happy about what Morgana has shown him and Arthur shares the sentiment. They’ve created a dangerous weapon. What’s worse, he has used Tha´kan to do it, without consulting Merlin on it first. In his defence, they didn’t know when Merlin was going to come back when he’d made the call.

“We’ll give you a minute,” Freya says with an encouraging nod towards Arthur. It seems like she, too, knows Merlin well enough even though they’ve been separated for so long. She puts down the cube and pulls of the gloves before she grabs Morgana by the arm and pulls her along when she leaves the garage and shuts the door behind them.

“We’ve been planting these on every docking pole for their mothership in Paris. The next time they move it there, we’ll be able to take them down. This is the last cube that needs to be put in place,” Arthur says. There have no definite proof to confirm that the mothership is the only source of power the Icà have for their weapons and machinery but there are enough indicators to at least give it a try. He doubts that they’ll get a second chance if this goes wrong. If it doesn’t, it will render the Icà defenceless and humans all across the world will take care of the rest. It’ll give them a chance to take back their planet.

Merlin remains silent, looking at the bomb, and Arthur, who always hated having to justify his actions to anyone, realises that he wants nothing more than or Merlin to understand why he chose this path. He doesn’t say anything yet, giving Merlin time to think about it.

“We’d be putting them up for slaughter,” Merlin finally says. Arthur wants to say something then but Merlin shakes his head a little to stop him. “You don’t need to explain to me that it’s necessary. I know that it is, Arthur. Believe me, I do. And a part of me thinks that they deserve nothing less, for all the people they’ve killed and enslaved and tortured. I’ve seen it all and they won’t stop unless we do something to stop them, for good. Still - I just wish there was another way.”

Arthur quietly thinks that he’s always loved Merlin most for the goodness in his heart, the kind of goodness that makes him want to spare the lives of these monsters who have taken so much from Merlin through the wrongs they’ve done to the Dragonlords and to humans alike.

Merlin takes a deep breath and nods, like he’s accepting that this is the only way.

“We’ll have to give them an ultimatum, though. Either they leave, or we destroy them.” He finally meets Arthur’s eyes then, his own glowing bright with determination. Arthur has a feeling he won’t like what’s coming next.

“And I’ll be the one delivering it.”

 

 

**November - Section Swordstone Base, France**

Three days after his arrival in France, Merlin gets a taste of what it’s like to be stuck on base while Arthur goes off to carry out a dangerous mission. He asked Arthur once to let him come with to plant the last bomb but Arthur refused. “If you come with us, I’ll constantly be worried about you. As long as I know you’re here, all I have to worry about is coming back in one piece,” he said before kissing Merlin so hard that he couldn’t help but believe him.

Now that Arthur is gone, taking Leon, Percival, Elena and Mithian with him, he’s not so sure anymore. It’s only been an hour and they’ll be back before nightfall but he can’t help being nervous and on edge. He already dropped the cup of tea Gwen had made for him after they sent them off and cut his hand on the shards when he was picking them up.

Lancelot is currently attending to the cut, which is pretty deep and won’t stop bleeding. It’s hardly the worst injury Merlin has suffered from recently but Lance still scolds him for being careless before putting a generous amount of disinfectant on the wound, making Merlin wince.

“You’re just like him, you know,” Lance says while he’s bandaging Merlin’s hand. “He was always a mess right after you would leave and I don’t think there was a single day he didn’t wake up and wonder if you were still alive. But you always made it back and that’s why I’m not worried about Arthur at all. He’d never let anything kill him now that he knows you’re here, waiting for him.”

He looks at Gwen, who has her back turned towards them and is making another cup of tea and Merlin realises that he knows exactly what he is talking about. Lance secures the bandage with a bit of tape and, in the voice of someone who’s long since gotten used to the fact that everyone he knows always manages to get injured somehow, says, “Please try not to do any more harm to yourself, okay?”

“It wasn’t on purpose,” Merlin mumbles but nods and accepts another cup of tea from Gwen, this time gripping it properly around the handle. He takes it outside, hoping that some fresh air will clear his head. His hand is throbbing but they only have a very limited stock of painkillers and they can’t afford to waste them on minor wounds like this.

There’s a little garden with a terrace at the back of the house. Merlin supposes that it was well kept and neat once but now everything in it has grown a bit wild. Most of the trees and bushes have lost their leaves already, covering the floor in colours of brown and red and yellow. He sits down on one of the garden chairs, careful not to spill any of his tea. He let the dragons out after the _Zha´threka_ patrol craft hovered past and he calls them now because he never minds their company and he has been neglecting them just a little bit in favour of spending a lot of time in Arthur’s bed.

He misses his parents. He was hoping to meet them here when he learned that Freya and Mordred had joined Arthur and the team. He knew that they were still in hiding before he arrived in France and he’s aware that this is the safest option for them but right now, he would give a lot to be able to talk to his father and get a hug from his mother or even just to know that they are absolutely okay.

Tha´kan is the first to show up but the others follow quickly. It’s good to see them all together because they are everything Merlin has been fighting for and regardless of how this all ends, he knows that it won’t have been in vain.

Tha´kan, still the smallest of them all because Alatas was big to begin with and is growing very fast, crawls into his lap and curls up there while Merlin takes a sip of his tea. He has to set down the cup to rub the spot between the dragon’s shoulders with his good hand and just like Arthur said, Tha´kan makes a sound that reminds Merlin of a purring cat.

“You can feel him, can’t you?” Merlin asks the dragon. He seems suspiciously calm, like he knows exactly that Arthur is alive and well and it wouldn’t surprise Merlin, either. Tha´kan and Arthur have formed a strong bond and dragons are better at assessing whether their own gut feeling is true or not. The dragon blinks at him with his grey eyes and nods. Merlin doesn’t need to tell him that he wants to know if anything happens to Arthur because the dragons can all feel what he means to Merlin.

Merlin, in return, can feel that Aithusa and Alatas have found themselves, just like Evekha predicted it would be. Merlin knows preciously little about how the courting process works for dragons but he knows that at some point, if they are compatible, two dragons become mates and that this is a lifelong commitment. It has happened to them and it shows in the way they never stray far from the other’s side unless they have to, in countless little soft nudges and touches and the way Aithusa radiates happiness. Merlin smiles at them fondly and Aithusa catches him at it and gives him a little nod. Alatas is much more withdrawn but then again Merlin doesn’t know him as well yet and he suspects he’ll always be closest to Aithusa.

Nerrou and Ibial are already back in the air, playing a game with each other that they never seem to get tired of. Merlin can feel his own nervousness reflected in them, though. They just have a different approach to handling it and maybe he should find something to do to occupy himself for a while but his mother taught him to always drink his tea and that’s what he does.

 

* * *

Merlin is a little surprised to find out that Gwaine plays chess but it's a welcome distraction even if their games never last long. Sooner rather than later, one of them drifts off with his thoughts for too long and ends up in a check mate.

"How do you do it?" Merlin asks after Gwaine takes his king in just four moves.

"Have you seen Percy? He's more than capable of protecting Ellie and his own sorry ass," Gwaine replies but Merlin can tell that he's not completely calm and relaxed either, even if he puts on a good show.

He likes Gwaine for his inappropriate behaviour and for how unapologetic he is about it. His first reaction to Merlin's new look was, "Well that's just weird," but if anything that made things a good lot easier because the rest of the team groaned at him in annoyance and Merlin quickly realised that he had worried for nothing, just as it'd been with Arthur. Nobody really cared that his eyes had changed colour or that he had a bit of scaling down his back, they were all just incredibly happy to see him alive.

They play until Gwen calls them over for dinner. It's nothing fancy, given the meagre supplies they can get. Usually, Merlin doesn't mind what he eats much as long as it's fit for consumption but tonight he finds himself craving some of Gwen's delicious lasagne. They eat in silence, mostly. The sun has already set and they're expecting Arthur and the others back any minute now, so Gwen warns them to leave enough food for them. For once, not even Gwaine tries to get seconds.

Time tickles by and there's still no sign of their friends and beloved and Merlin flees the nervous energy of the group. Morgana has been avoiding the company of everyone all day long and Merlin understands why. It's a lot more difficult to force down his own anxiety when everyone around him is radiating the same barely repressed fear. The later it gets the more Merlin thinks he would be going crazy, curled up Arthur's bed, if it weren't for Tha´kan who keeps telling him that Arthur is fine.

Around midnight, someone outside makes a sound so full of the pain, Merlin feels it to his bones. It’s followed by shouting and Merlin only half registers the dragon saying, "It's not Arthur," before he makes a mad dash down the stairs and outside the front door. He won't believe it until he sees him.

Arthur is there, alive and seemingly unharmed but he looks at Merlin like the world has already ended. It takes Merlin a second to take in the entire scene. Mithian is being supported by Leon, her teeth grit against the pain, her eyes shining with tears she is trying to keep in. Her leg has been injured badly.

Lancelot is kneeling over Elena, who is lying on the floor perfectly still, her blonde hair muddled with something red. "No," Merlin says, hardly making a sound. He knows long before Lance says it, his head bowed as if he can hardly bear being the one to confirm it, that Elena is gone.

Gwaine is standing a few feet away from Elena's corpse where he must have frozen in place when he saw that she was dead. Percival takes a few careful steps towards him but when he reaches out, Gwaine suddenly moves and hits him square in the face. There's an ugly noise of crunching bones but Gwaine keeps throwing punches, yelling, “You were supposed to keep her safe, you promised me you'd bring her back!"

Percival takes it like he thinks he deserves this. There are tears running down his face and he barely bothers to block more blows aimed at it. The ones hitting his stomach and chest keep coming but eventually Gwaine starts losing his strength and instead clings to Percy, sobbing uncontrollably against his chest. Percy wraps him up in his arms then, simply holding Gwaine together while trying not to fall apart himself.

 

* * *

The next day is one of those few beautiful days just before winter begins, the sun shining bright and the air clear and brisk. Fallen leaves swirl around in the air like they've been brought back to life.

Merlin thinks he won't ever get used to how strange it feels to know that someone is gone but at the same time expecting them to barge into the room with a stupid comment about his pasty bum. He knows that feeling will fade on the day that the realization knocks the air out of his lungs, which is better in some ways and worse in others.

He wrapped his arms around Arthur last night and said, "I'm glad you came back to me." Arthur remained silent for a long time but Merlin knew he wasn't asleep. "I nearly didn't," he said eventually and took a deep breath, "If Elena hadn't..."

He sounded like he hated himself a little bit because he was in Merlin's arms and he didn't know if he was allowed to be happy about it, if the price they paid was too high. Merlin didn't know, either. None of them got much sleep that night but at some point Merlin must've fallen asleep because he wakes up a few hours later, to an empty bed and a world that's much too bright.

It serves him as a reminder that their fight must go on. They could receive the news about movement of the mothership any day now and they need to be ready for that if they don't want to waste their opportunity. The mission was carried out; the final bomb is in place. Leon told him and Morgana after Arthur had gone up to his room without a word. They snuck into the city dressed in the uniforms of human workers. Getting in was always the easier part but they found their usual exit point blocked and had to improvise when they were spotted by a patrol who thought they were workers trying to escape. In the chase that followed, Mithian, Elena and Leon were wounded but they couldn't stop to attend to the injuries. Elena died in Percival's arms before they could reach the base.

Merlin tries not to dwell on how fucking unfair life can be while he gets dressed. He needs to find Arthur and make sure that this doesn't push him into the same depression he suffered from after Uther's death. They don't have time for mourning now but Merlin already knows how they'll bury Elena and that it'll be special even if they won't have much time to prepare it.

It doesn't take him long to find Arthur. He's out in the garden, looking at the cloudless sky with resentment and hardly acknowledges Merlin when he joins him. Aithusa and Alatas are huddled together beneath an old tree that has already shed all his leaves. Merlin watches them for a little while, trying to find the right words.

"Don't shut me out again, Arthur. We need to finish this and we can't do it without you. Don't regret that you're alive and she's not. Don't regret that you still have a chance to be with the people you love. Don't regret that you can be with me. It's no use." He doesn't say that Elena wouldn't have wanted them to be unhappy or that it won't bring her back. He's heard people tell him those things so often he hates them, regardless of whether they're true or not.

"I could never regret that. That's the whole problem. I won't ever regret being with you, even if I get everyone killed. It scares me."

Merlin takes his hand. "You won't get them killed. If anything, they're only alive because you have led them this far. They believe in you and they won't abandon the mission now. Do you trust me?"

Arthur turns his head towards Merlin and nods. "Good. Then trust in this, no matter what happens: We'll see this through and we'll be alright."

"Okay," Arthur whispers and squeezes Merlin's hand.

 

* * *

They bury Elena two days later at nightfall. Merlin watches Gwaine and Percival carefully, hoping that they won’t regret agreeing to this. Asking them felt like the right thing to do. Elena meant a lot to everyone on the team but they were closest to her and loved her most. Still, the past few days haven’t been easy on any of them, least of all Arthur. Merlin knows he still blames himself for Elena’s death. He will most likely be carrying that guilt for a long time, just as Merlin remembers every one of the Swordstone agents he lost. At least Arthur isn’t letting his grief stop him from functioning again. If anything, he has been putting on a brave face for every one of them, offering comfort and keeping them going. He only lets his guard down at night, when Merlin is holding him, before they drift into a restless sleep.

Elena’s body is wrapped up in colourful fabrics that they’ve gathered from all over the town. Mithian spent two nights sewing them all together into a beautiful patchwork blanket. Gwaine and Percy laid the body out on an old, wooden dining table they found in one of the abandoned houses, where it rests now while everyone gathers around it to put a piece of paper next to it.

The Dragonlords of old used to give their dead one wish, written down on the scale of a deceased dragon, to take with them on their long journey to the stars. Merlin doesn’t share many of the believes his father once told him about yet he always liked the notion that the remains and the soul would float up into the sky, until the ashes scatter in the wind and the conscience rises further up into space.

Merlin carefully places his own wish next to a bright blue piece of cloth and his fingers run over the old and worn wood. He closes his eyes and murmurs a few words in the dragon tongue, summoning the dragons, which are close but still out of sight. Then, he takes a step back, taking his spot by Arthur's side. They are forming a circle around the table, leaving some spaces in between them for the dragons, which are gliding down towards them from the sky now. Aithusa settles down to Merlin's left side and Tha´kan lands to Arthur's right.

Gwaine asked to say a few words but looking at him now Merlin is sure that he won’t actually be able to do it. His eyes are glistening with tears that he’s holding back, lips pressed together to keep every treacherous sound in. His knuckles are white where his hand is clutching Percy’s so hard it’ll probably leave bruises. Merlin swallows back his own tears. He’s about to give Aithusa a sign when Arthur suddenly speaks.

“Elena,” he begins but stumbles over her name a little and closes her eyes for a moment as if saying it’s too much. He doesn’t take long to recollect himself, though. “Elena was brilliant. She was fun, she was smart and she was kind. When I interviewed her, she spilled coffee all over herself because she was terribly clumsy but I hired her anyway and that was one of my brighter moments, really. She always managed to make people smile and she had this attitude towards everything in life that I admired greatly because it was just positivity. Do any of you remember her ever being truly sad or down or complaining about little things that would never matter in the end? I don’t. She believed that life was good and she believed in the good in people. She believed in us. I am glad for the chance to know her and we were all lucky to be her friends.”

Merlin takes Arthur’s hand and whispers, “ _Glah´ra_.” All five dragons take a step forward and breathe fire, their flames meeting and mingling, burning the table and Elena’s body very quickly until only embers remain. The sparks hang suspended in mid-air like glowing raindrops and slowly begin to rise into the darkness.

Merlin tilts his head back to watch them float higher and higher and he doesn’t know how long they remain this way but his neck is stiff and his eyes are glistening with tears when Arthur lightly tugs at his hand and pulls him back inside.

 

* * *

The sound of the door closing causes Merlin to look up. He already knows that it’s Arthur, already recognizes the rhythm in his step even though they’ve only been living together for two weeks. Merlin tries to be optimistic about their chances but sometimes he can’t help wondering if two weeks and a few stolen moments before that is all the time they’re ever going to get. He’s glad that if one of them is going to die it’ll most likely be him. It’s a selfish thought but he’s not sure he would even want to live in a world without Arthur and he has every intention of making it back because two weeks isn’t enough, could never be enough.

He is too lost in his own thoughts to pick up on Arthur’s mood immediately. When he does, he realises that Arthur is brimming with anticipation and energy, like he’s ready to take down every single alien in the entire universe.

“The mothership has just set off from London. It’ll be in Paris in two hours. We’ll attack tonight,” Arthur says and joins Merlin on the bed as dread settles in his stomach. Of course this day was going to come, hell, they’ve been waiting for it but now that it’s here, Merlin wishes he could just postpone it for a little longer.

“Okay,” Merlin replies because there isn’t much else to say. They have a plan and they’ve been going over it again and again so many times now that Merlin will probably never forget it, even if he lives to be 100 years old. It’s fairly simple, too – the team will create a diversion outside the city which should leave enough time for Merlin and Aithusa to reach the ship unhindered. They’re assuming that the presence of a dragon will be enough to start negotiations and that Merlin will then be able to issue their ultimatum. They either leave or the human race will fight back. Merlin is pretty sure that the aliens won’t just give up and disappear but they’ll have a choice, even if it’s more than they deserve.

“Hey,” Arthur says and catches Merlin’s hand, entwining their fingers. “We’ll be alright, remember?” He nudges Merlin’s knee to make him look up and meet Arthur’s gaze.

“Yeah, I do. I still think I’d like the plan better if we didn’t have to be separated again.” Merlin lets out a shaky breath and scoots closer to Arthur. They already had a huge fight about this and Merlin certainly doesn’t wish to repeat that, so he quickly presses a kiss to the corner of Arthur’s mouth. “I know it’s necessary. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“I don’t particularly like it, either,” Arthur says. He kisses Merlin properly for a few precious seconds before he pulls back a little and kicks off his shoes and removes the thick sweater he is wearing.

Merlin looks at him quizzically. “Are we going to have angsty oh-my-god-the-world-is-ending sex now?” He’s not entirely sure if that’s something he would be into. Arthur huffs out a laugh and slips back into bed.

“Well, I guess we could if you wanted to but I was thinking more along the lines of getting some rest so we survive this mission and get to have so much more sex afterwards,” Arthur says and pulls Merlin into his arms who rests his head against Arthur’s chest.

“Is that a promise, then? All the sex, once we’ve made it out of this alive?”

“Definitely a promise, yes.”

“Okay then,” Merlin says and listens to Arthur’s heartbeat.

When they wake up a few hours later, there isn’t much time for chatting. They get dressed quickly, Arthur in his CAMELOT uniform, Merlin in regular clothing because they have no spare uniforms. Merlin has just put on his jacket and is heading for the door when Arthur pulls him into a kiss that makes Merlin’s lips tingle and doesn’t seem to end. Eventually, they both have to pull back for air. Arthur’s lips are red and his hair is a little dishevelled where Merlin buried his hands in it.

“Here,” Arthur says, pulling something from his pocket. It’s a simple leather necklace but the ring Arthur always wears on his thumb is dangling from it. He holds it out for Merlin to take.

“What-?” Merlin says and tries to stop Arthur when he motions to slip it over Merlin’s head himself. “I can’t take this, Arthur, that’s-“

“Hush,” Arthur says and bats his hands out of the way. He touches the ring that’s resting against Merlin’s chest now and smiles. “I need you to have this. You can give it back to me soon.”

Merlin rests his forehead against Arthur’s and closes his eyes.

“I will,” he promises, both to Arthur and himself.

They leave the room together to join the others, who are all making last preparations, keeping themselves busy so they don’t have time to get nervous. Merlin speaks to Mithian and the other dragons who’ll be staying behind. Mithian’s leg doesn’t allow her to join and Merlin can tell that she is terribly upset about that, even if she hasn’t said a word.

He seeks out Freya and Mordred and finds them wrapped up in a kiss. He fakes a cough to make them aware of his presence and tells them he’s happy for them, even though he’s probably two years late.

He doesn’t say goodbye to anyone and no one tries to say goodbye to him. They set off late in the afternoon and when it’s time to split up, he says, “I’ll see you soon,” while looking at Arthur, who smiles at him like he doesn’t doubt for a second that they actually will see each other again.

Merlin decides to trust him.

 

 

**March – ALBION Headquarters, London**

“The post invasion clean-up is complete in most African countries. The last enemy forces still holding up in Canada were defeated earlier this week, which completes our missions in America. There are still a considerable number of alien troops on the run in China and parts of Eastern Europe but our efforts are focused on supporting the local population in the pursuit. We have not been able to take any prisoners so far, as our non-lethal weapons are mostly ineffective and it’s rarely possible to reason with the locals who are bent on revenge.”

Arthur is facing a wall of monitors, each one showing the stern looking face of a different UN representative, most of them dressed in some sort of uniform. He knows that most of them are at least partly responsible for the bloodshed that has been on-going for the past four months. The Icà sealed their fate when they refused to leave Earth behind and Merlin was forced to detonate their dragonfire explosives. It didn’t take long for people all across the world to realise that the aliens were defenceless without their superior weaponry, all of which stopped working when the connection to the mothership was destroyed. Not even their smaller spaceships were functioning anymore, making any escape impossible.

Military troops took over the functions of interim-governments almost everywhere and started to mobilize the survivors to hunt down every last one of the Icà. England is one of the first countries to hold elections again in the coming month but Arthur is fairly certain that a number of states will remain stuck in military dictatorship. The thought makes him angry, as does the way in which most states have been handling the clean-ups.

“Thank you for your report, Agent Pendragon. I think this is all for today,” the representative from France says, obviously wanting to end the video conference quickly.

“One more thing,” the U.S. General cuts in. “Have you received an answer from Merlin Emrys yet?”

“He’ll give it to you himself, if you don’t mind,” Arthur replies and steps aside to let Merlin take the spot he was in before, in the centre of the room. Arthur can hear a few gasps and sounds of surprise when Merlin looks up right into the camera, his eyes glowing golden and bright.

“Well, Mr Emrys? I take it you have considered our offer.” The General doesn’t seem inclined to waste any more time. Arthur knows how vigorously they have been going after Merlin since the UN decided that an international organization for anti-alien defence was necessary to protect Earth in the future. After several attempts to catch both him and the dragons, they quickly realised they needed Merlin on their good side.

“Indeed, I have. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am willing to lead ALBION under two conditions. One, that an international treaty concerning the proper treatment of any extraterrestrials wishing to live on this planet in peace is drafted in consultation with us and ratified by the end of the year.”

Arthur knows that Merlin won’t budge on this. They’ve discussed it multiple times and Arthur agrees that there need to be laws on how Earth’s interaction with alien lifeforms should function. There need to be rules and regulations put in place to prevent the persecution and marginalization of aliens worldwide.

“Do you presume you are able to dictate how the international community of states handles this situation?” The Chinese representative asks. He looks like it would physically hurt him to comply with Merlin’s demand.

“I will not be the head of an organization that hunts down innocent aliens, so if you want me, you’ll accept this. Don’t doubt for a second that I will not do anything in my power to defend Earth. I may only be half-human but this is my home and I will not allow anyone to take it away.” Merlin’s voice is calm but the colour of his eyes is glowing more intensely now, deeper and somehow darker, too. The power he holds is plain for everyone to see but it doesn’t have the same effect on Arthur as it does on the reps, which all seem at least impressed. It turns Arthur on more than it probably should, especially in the current situation.

“What is your second condition, Mr Emrys?”

“I want Mr Pendragon to head the organization with me. I don’t imagine this will be a problem, seeing as we successfully neutralized the Icà together.” Merlin doesn’t look at him but Arthur can see a small smile on his lips.

They considered leaving this kind of life behind, finding a quiet place to settle down and living peacefully and undisturbed after everything they’ve been through. In the end they had to realise how unable they both were to walk away from this opportunity to shape the world that is currently being rebuilt but they were not going to be doing it without one another anymore.

“While recognizing that the terms of this treaty have to be negotiated carefully, does anyone absolutely object to these demands?” When the General’s question is met by silence, she continues to say, “Congratulations, Mr Emrys. You are now officially the Director of ALBION. The same goes to you, Mr Pendragon.”

Almost simultaneously, all monitors switch to black as the representatives cut the connection.

“That went rather well, I suppose,” Merlin says and turns towards Arthur with a half-smile. “Do you reckon they’ll try to screw us over with the treaty?”

“Oh, I’m sure of it but we’ll handle that situation and anything else they might throw at us and we’ll be alright,” Arthur replies and holds out one hand to Merlin, who takes it and lets himself be pulled out of the command room and into the hallway, where Arthur pins him against the wall with his mouth hot on Merlin’s, hands buried in his hair. “Do you have any idea how hot you are when you’re frightening powerful people and put them in their place?” He asks and proceeds to kiss down the side of Merlin’s neck.

“I didn’t but from now on I’ll make sure to do it frequently and only when you’re around to watch me do it,” Merlin laughs, guiding Arthur’s head back up by the chin. “We’re going be late for dinner, though. Gwen’s making lasagne and you know the rules. No leftovers, ever!” He presses another kiss to Arthur’s mouth before grabbing Arthur’s hand to drag him outside and Arthur can live with that. It’s not like they don’t have a perfectly comfortable bed waiting for them after dinner.

 

* * *

It takes them a good while to reach the outskirts of the city where the destruction has been minimal and where most of the team is living now. Thankfully, they have a car at their disposal, unlike most of the population does at this point. Seeing as there is very little traffic and nobody cares about speed limits these days, they even make it to the house Gwen and Lance are now living in a little early.

They’re just getting out of the car and heading for the door when Merlin murmurs, “Aithusa.” Seconds later, Arthur can hear the flapping of wings that is followed by a thud as the dragon lands in the middle of the deserted street. She bows her head and Merlin rests his palm against her forehead for a moment, murmuring an endearment in the dragon tongue. Arthur is still terrible at speaking it but he can understand most of it if he listens carefully.

The dragons are currently staying with Balinor and Hunith up in Scotland, where there are less people that are either scared of or fascinated with them. For now, they are safer there but it’s obvious that Merlin misses them terribly, even though Aithusa flies down to London often and sometimes takes him back with her for a few days. Arthur only has an inkling of how hard it must be for Merlin because he misses Tha´kan, too.

Arthur stays back and gives them a moment to speak privately until Aithusa gently butts her snout against his shoulder. When Arthur doesn’t flinch, she says, “Your wound is fully healed. I am glad. Maybe now I can convince Lancelot to let you fly with me. I know a terrible nuisance of a dragon who has been asking for your presence almost daily. He is trying Balinor’s patience.”

Arthur smiles and touches his shoulder. He was wounded during the battle in Paris and for a while there things didn’t look great. He’s got a scar to prove it and sometimes he can still feel it when he strains the muscles but mostly he’s fine.

“Tell him I promise he’ll see me soon. Merlin and I have both been promoted now but I don’t think they’d mind if we take a few days off. We don’t even have a proper headquarter yet.” The only part of the building complex that’s finished is the command centre. Everything else is under construction.

“Then you have finally reached the next part of the journey you will make together. You will achieve much and lead this planet into a golden age of peace and greatness.”

Aithusa looks upon them both with so much trust and fondness that Arthur feels a little dizzy with it until Merlin slides closer towards him so their arms are touching.

“ _Han´a_ ,” Merlin says to her, thanking her for something and Arthur thinks he’s missing something here.

“I will see you again soon,” she says and bows her head once more before soaring up into the night again.

Arthur looks at Merlin a little confused and pouts a little when Merlin just grins at him like an idiot. “What?” He asks because now he really feels out of the loop. Merlin wraps his arms around him, though and whispers, “She just foretold our future, Arthur. Dragons are very careful with that but when they decide to share their knowledge about it, they are never wrong.”

Arthur is still feeling dizzy and overwhelmed but he suspects it has a lot to do with the way his heart is beating faster now. If his future is going to be bright and amazing, Merlin is the only person he would want to share it with. He’s known that for a long time now.

“Was that Aithusa? I can’t believe I missed her again, she really needs to stop avoiding me just because I told Nerrou how human sex works, it’s ridiculous,” Mithian complains. Arthur didn’t realise the front door had opened but there she is, sitting in the doorway in her wheelchair. She ended up losing her leg even though Lance did everything he could.

Merlin lets go of him and they walk towards the house, both kissing her cheeks before she makes room for them to enter. “I don’t think she’s avoiding you at all, dear. She just wanted to congratulate Arthur and me on our new jobs,” Merlin says and takes Arthur’s and his jackets to the coat rack.

“Oh man, did they really put you in charge? Well, I hope you’re making them build in elevators and ramps everywhere because you are absolutely hiring me,” Mithian says.

“Who’s hiring?” Mordred asks, sticking his head out of the kitchen door, releasing a wave of delicious smells into the hallway.

“You’re all very welcome to apply but we’ll obviously have to employ the best of the best, so I don’t know what your chances are,” Arthur says seriously and ruffles Mordred’s hair when he passes him.

“He’s joking,” Merlin says and Arthur thinks that it should be obvious that everyone who worked at CAMELOT or Swordstone will have a spot at the new organization, too. They’ve more than proven their worth already. Merlin makes a mental note to contact Will, just in case he’s in need of a job these days.

Gwen is busy in the kitchen and only takes a moment to hug Arthur and bat his hand away from her belly with a spoon. “It’s not supposed to be kicking yet, Lance told you,” she says and commands him to go through into the living room where Leon and Morgana are busy setting the table. There’s been a ring on Morgana’s finger for a few weeks now and sometimes, Arthur catches Leon looking at her like he still can’t believe she actually said yes.

Through the window, Arthur sees Percival and Freya who seem to be in deep conversation and Lance and Elyan are sitting on the couch, where Arthur joins them because Morgana just waves him off and says, “You’d only get in the way,” when he offered to help.

“Where’s Gwaine?” Arthur asks and takes the beer Lance offers him. It’s pretty decent for something that’s definitely black market.

“He’s not coming,” Lance says with a sigh. Gwaine has been struggling more than any of them, drinking away his grief and disappearing for a few days every now and then. Arthur wouldn’t have thought that he’d miss Gwen’s lasagne, though.

“He and Percy are officially broken up,” Elyan explains. “He said he didn’t want to make things awkward, which is ridiculous, considering how often Morgana dumped Leon’s ass while they were still working together. It’s not like we didn’t all see this coming, either. They love each other but they don’t know how to do it without Ellie.”

They fall silent, each caught up in the grief they all still feel about losing Elena. Arthur tries not to dwell on it too often, pushes it away to the part of his brain that also has everything related to Uther under lock and key. He knows that’s not a healthy way to grieve and there are times when he can’t keep it down but they are interrupted now by Gwen calling everyone to the table.

Everyone gathers around the dinner table while Arthur gives Gwen a hand with bringing the food in before he takes his seat next to Merlin, who leans in to ask about Gwaine. “I’ll explain later,” Arthur says and presses a quick kiss to Merlin’s temple. Percy is the last one to sit down after lifting Mithian onto one of the chairs; he's the only one allowed to do that. When Arthur suspected that it had a lot to do with Percy’s very very impressive arms he asked Mithian about it and uncovered a bit of a crush mixed with a lot of guilt.

“Okay, guys, I’m handing over the spoons but please don’t spill anything on the tablecloth, alright? As you all know the washing machine doesn’t work,” Gwen says very threateningly before she gives one big spoon to Arthur and the other to Lance, who start loading heaps of lasagne on everyone’s plates.

The doorbell rings a few moments later and Merlin goes to answer it, returning with Gwaine, who looks like a mess and hesitates to join them at the table, even though Gwen is already getting another plate from the kitchen for him.

“Am I too late?” He asks, clutching his jacket between his hands. Arthur doesn’t remember ever seeing him nervous like this and decides to put him out of his misery.

“Just in time, mate,” he says and if Gwaine can’t really look any of them in the eye right now, Arthur thinks he’s going to be okay. They’ll make sure of it because that’s what you do for people who survive an alien invasion with you.

Dinner is loud and filled with laughter for the most part. Merlin officially offers every one of them a job should they want it, Mordred suggests ridiculous baby names to Lance and Gwen, Morgana and Leon announce that they’ve set a date for the wedding and Elyan and Freya start a fight over the last piece of lasagne which results in stains on the cloth.

There is little talk of aliens and rebuilding or foretellings made by dragons but Arthur carries Aithusa’s words with him all evening, replaying them in his head while he dries the dishes and when he helps Merlin into his jacket, after they’ve said goodbye to everyone.

They decide to walk home, which is currently in a small house only a couple of streets over.

“Don’t overthink it,” Merlin says eventually. He snatches Arthur’s hand and starts playing with the thumb ring that Arthur is wearing again. There’s a matching ring now, on a leather necklace hidden under Merlin’s shirt.

“I’m not,” Arthur protests but he can’t fool Merlin and that thought makes him smile. “Okay, maybe a little. It’s just a bit much,” he admits. They’re nearly at their front door now but Merlin stops and faces Arthur with an earnest look on his face.

“Arthur, we don’t have to do any of it. I’m not sure how Aithusa would feel about it if we ruined her vision of our future but I’m sure she wouldn’t rip our heads off if we decided to move to a quiet little town in the middle of nowhere. I don’t want you to regret anything later,” he says.

Arthur frames his face with his hands and shakes his head. “No, it’s not like that. I’m just so fucking happy that I’ll get to spend my life with you. For the longest time I thought I’d never get to have that, so - no regrets, Merlin. Not ever.”

The smile Merlin gives him is bright and beautiful and Arthur knows that their future, regardless of what it looks like, will be good.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading ♥ I hope you've already left freyafenris some love - in case you haven't, you can [do it here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/947664). _Han´a_.
> 
> These are translations for the dragon language I made up for the fic, in case anyone's interested!  
> Lan´ra = Dragon  
> Zha´threka = Dark Souls  
> Ankh´ra = Sphere of Fire  
> Rhaá = Hello  
> Notha´kin = My name is  
> Elakha`in = Princess  
> Hak'to = Where is  
> Tala`ch = Soon  
> Thaz ak`ra ravikh ashvar = May your fire burn strong  
> Hekha = Welcome  
> Lan´ra`hyi = Dragonlord  
> Kin´to elasin pokha´a = I am honoured to meet you  
> Thaka = Good  
> Glah´ra = Last Fire  
> Han´a = Thank You  
> 


End file.
